359 The Road Beyond Ironleaf

359

The Road Beyond Ironleaf

Between the clatter of bowls and the faint smell of broth, I leaned forward, chopsticks tapping the rim of my cup. “So,” I asked casually, “when are you two planning to leave Ironleaf?”

Guo Hui wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Once we finish the kobold hunt. Those pests have been popping up more frequently in the past month.”

“Kobolds, huh?” I said, feigning mild curiosity though the topic piqued my attention. “I’ve been looking into them myself. Think you’d mind an extra companion on the road?”

Lin Jing raised a brow. “You’re coming along?”

“Of course,” I replied, smiling faintly. “I was planning to head toward the Martial Alliance anyway. Might as well travel together.”

Guo Hui chuckled, the sound deep and hearty. “Then tell me something, brat. Are you planning to join the martial tournament?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Naturally.”

Lin Jing gave a quiet laugh, sipping his drink. “Then don’t get your hopes too high. The average participant is already at Mind Enlightenment. You’re still in Martial Tempering, right?”

“That’s true,” I admitted. “But is the tournament realm-restricted?”

“Not exactly,” Lin Jing said. “However, you have to be under a hundred years old to participate. It’s the only real rule.”

I looked at them curiously. “Then how old are you two, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Guo Hui grinned, showing his teeth. “Fifty-two.”

Lin Jing smiled faintly. “Forty-six.”

I blinked. “You both look… barely over thirty.”

“That’s cultivation for you,” Lin Jing replied, the corner of his mouth curving upward. “And you?”

“Twenty-five,” I answered deceitfully.

Guo Hui let out a whistle. “Then by the time you reach Mind Enlightenment, you’ll be pushing fifty at least. If your talents allow it.”

I chuckled softly. “Maybe. But I’ll try not to take that long.”

They laughed, clinking cups together.

After a few moments, I asked, “Where are those kobolds you mentioned?”

“Quite far off,” Lin Jing replied. “They’ve been sighted near the middle reaches of the Fallenroot Expanse. We can hunt them on the way to the Alliance. The pay’s decent, and it helps clear the roads.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Then I’ll register for the same mission tomorrow. Might as well earn while traveling. Hmmm… Hopefully, you can wait for a few days? I have a few things I need before we leave.”

“That’s fine with me,” remarked Guo Hui.

“You'd better hurry, because we might just leave you,” added Lin Jing.

The next morning, I went to the eatery one last time. The owner looked startled when I handed her a heavy pouch of silver.

“Eh? Young master, this is too much!”

“Consider it thanks,” I said, smiling faintly. “For all the meals and conversations.”

Her eyes glistened. “May the Great Guard watch over your journey,” she said warmly.

I scratched my cheek awkwardly. “Please don’t say that too loudly.”

After leaving the eatery, I stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild and registered for the same kobold subjugation quest my two ‘seniors’ had taken.

When I left the guild, I caught the edge of a rumor drifting through the crowd.

“...the late Alliance Master, Yi Qiu, they say he’s been branded a demon…”

“...the Martial Alliance’s denouncing the Holy Ascension Empire…”

After a few days, I picked up my order from the smithy. The old man handed me the bundle with a proud grin.

“All black iron,” he said, patting the weapons. “A full set — sword, axe, greatsword, spear, staff, hammer, mace, shield, and bow. Tough as old bones, just like me.”

I smiled and handed over the payment, slipping a few extra coins into his calloused palm. “Thanks. I probably won’t be back for a while.”

“That’s a pity,” he laughed. “You won’t get to marry my daughter then!”

“Father!” his daughter yelled from behind the forge, face red. “Don’t say things like that!”

I chuckled, bowing slightly to both of them. “You two stay well.”

When the day of departure came, I found Guo Hui and Lin Jing waiting at the end of Ironleaf’s border path beside a small flying boat. It was sleek, painted black with silver lines of inscription running across its hull.

Guo Hui crossed his arms. “We got ourselves a ride, but it wasn’t cheap.”

Lin Jing added, “Split three ways, it’s manageable.”

I tossed a pouch of coins and stones toward them. “My share, then.”

Guo Hui caught it with a grin. “At least you pay on time.”

The boat hummed as Lin Jing activated its core formation. The ground fell away beneath us as the small vessel lifted into the sky. Ironleaf shrank into a cluster of roofs and smoke, framed by the endless sea of forest and glinting metal-wood trees.

“It’s a good city,” I murmured. “Peaceful, hardworking folk. I’ll miss it.”

Guo Hui grunted. “You get sentimental too easily.”

“Call it appreciation,” I replied with a faint smile.

As the flying boat soared through drifting clouds, conversation turned toward darker topics.

“War’s coming,” Guo Hui said suddenly, gazing at the horizon. “Can feel it in my bones. For body cultivators like me, that’s an opportunity… more battles, more tempering.”

Lin Jing sighed, resting his fan against his knee. “Ominous signs are everywhere. The Union’s been recruiting mercenaries like mad, and weapon prices are climbing even in the northern continents. If that’s not war preparation, I don’t know what is.”

I folded my arms, thoughtful. “Honestly, I can’t even guess how big the war could get. The world’s vast… and if the great sects or nations get involved, it might engulf half the known realms.”

Guo Hui grunted. “Never thought that far. Probably just some countries clashing. Happens every few centuries.”

Lin Jing shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Once the higher powers, the ancient sects and divine families, step in, borders won’t mean much.”

I stayed silent, staring at the passing clouds. A strange weight pressed against my chest. It was almost ironic, hearing them talk about the “higher powers” as though they were distant, untouchable forces. In truth, I was one of them now. And yet here I was, pretending to be a wandering adventurer on a flying boat.

The thought made my chest ache.

“Anyway,” I said abruptly, forcing a lighter tone. “Enough of that gloomy talk. Let’s change the subject. Favorite foods, anyone?”

Guo Hui snorted. “Roasted pork.”

“Steamed fish,” Lin Jing said at once.

I grinned. “Noodles. Always noodles.”

…

..

.

The sky was the color of ash by the time our small flying boat descended toward the narrow valley. Below us, a village clung to the hillside with thatched roofs, small smoke trails rising from chimneys, and far too few people outside for this time of day. The air itself carried an unease I could taste.

As soon as Guo Hui guided the vessel down, a dozen villagers rushed toward us. Some of them were men with crude farming tools, others were women clutching frightened children. Their faces were pale, lined with desperation.

“Please! Adventurers! You’ve come to slay the kobolds, haven’t you?” cried one man, his hands clasped together. “They’ve been taking our children, our elders—”

Guo Hui, never one for gentleness, jumped down first, landing heavily with a dull thud that cracked the dirt road. “Out of the way!” he barked, voice booming. “We can’t help you if you block the road. Get back!”

The villagers immediately parted, frightened but hopeful.

Lin Jing descended next, his robes fluttering lightly as his fan snapped open with a snap. “We seek the village chief,” he said calmly. “Bring us to him.”

One of the men nodded rapidly and hurriedly gestured for us to follow.

As we walked, I mused quietly to myself. Kobolds… 狗头人… literally ‘dog-headed people’. My Linguist subclass translated the term automatically in my mind. In LLO, kobolds were pitiful creatures. They were weak, crude, and something you killed for experience points before you even left the beginner zone.

But that was there, and this was a xianxia world where everything had cultivation, where even weeds could probably reach enlightenment.

If these kobolds had evolved… or worse, mutated… then they might be something entirely different. If they truly came from LLO, like me, perhaps they were another clue to how that world and the Hollowed World intertwined.

The villager led us to the largest hut in the center of the village. Its door was open, and the scent of medicine and blood greeted us. Inside, a frail old man lay upon a straw bed, his legs bound tightly with blood-soaked bandages. A young man, likely his son, sat beside him, carefully changing the wrappings with trembling hands.

The old man tried to sit up when he saw us, but his son quickly stopped him.

Lin Jing stepped forward and cupped his hands. “We are cultivators and adventurers, here under the request posted by your village. We’ve come to subjugate the kobolds that have been attacking your people.”

The old man gave a weak nod, his eyes bright despite the pain. “You have my thanks, honored ones. They… they took so much from us already…”

I frowned, my gaze flicking to the crimson-stained cloth around his legs. One of them was broken, twisted unnaturally beneath the wrappings. The other was little more than a stump.

It hurt to look at.

If my main body were here, I could have healed him with a breath of divine power. But this body was different and hindered by deliberate limitation. With my current power, I didn’t think I’d be capable of regenerating a limb or even using any spells.

I reminded myself why I walked this path. Strength without understanding was hollow.

Still, seeing suffering so closely made the restraint bitter.

The old man’s son helped him lean against the wall as he explained, “The kobolds have a den in a cave south of here, near the old quarry. They come out at night, attacking the edge of the village.”

I noticed something as he spoke. The village was too quiet.

“Where are the children?” I asked.

The son’s expression stiffened. His father’s face turned pale.

“The children…” the old man whispered hoarsely. “They’ve been taken.”

Lin Jing’s fan froze halfway through its motion. “Taken?”

The old man nodded weakly, tears streaking his weathered face. “They don’t kill them, not at first. The kobolds hit them in the knees, cripple them so they can’t run, and then… drag them away into the cave.”

His voice broke. “Please… please, honored cultivators… save them if you can. I beg you…”

I remained silent for a moment, absorbing his words.

Kobolds didn’t take people. Not even in LLO. They killed for territory, gold, or food, but not prisoners. Unless… unless something was influencing them.

A chill ran down my spine. Dragon worship. Sacrifice. Blood pacts. Kobolds drew their power from those things. If they were kidnapping children, it might mean they were serving a higher entity.

I stood, straightening my robes. “We’ll find them.”

We departed shortly after. The sun was already setting, casting red shadows across the hills. The path south was lined with the scent of damp soil and wild grass, the occasional crow breaking the silence.

Guo Hui shouldered his mace, glancing at me sideways. “You sure you’re up for this? Don’t drag us down with your low cultivation, kid.”

I smirked, hands clasped behind my back. “Senior Guo, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make your junior nervous before the fight.”

Lin Jing chuckled lightly, closing his fan with a snap. “Guo Hui, have you forgotten? He’s the one who suppressed you during your last little ‘spar’.”

Guo Hui snorted. “That was a fluke.”

I laughed, stepping ahead of them on the trail. “Don’t be too harsh on your senior, Lin Jing. Respect your elders, remember?”

Guo Hui barked a laugh. “Ha! This kid’s got some teeth.”

“And you,” Lin Jing said with a sigh, “are as stiff as ever.”

Guo Hui’s grin widened. “Better stiff than spineless, fan-boy.”

I couldn’t help but think back to my old friends in LLO as we trekked through the dim valley toward the kobolds’ den. They used to carry me in every dungeon. If there was a puzzle, they’d sigh and tell me to “just stay still” while they solved it. When we faced bosses, I’d always dive in first, headstrong and swinging like an idiot, even if it meant wiping the party.

That was how I saw games: a place to throw myself at enemies until they fell. No careful planning. No patience. Just raw, thoughtless fun.

But here… this wasn’t a game anymore.

If I rushed forward now without thinking, children would die.

I didn’t want that weight on my conscience.

“The act of kidnapping children…” I muttered under my breath as we approached the cavern mouth. “Kobolds don’t do that. They drag their prey home dead, not alive.”

Guo Hui, walking ahead, turned slightly. “You saying these things are different?”

“I’m saying they’re wrong,” I replied. “Kobolds aren’t scavengers like goblins. They hunt for survival, not cruelty. If they’re taking kids, there’s a reason… and I don’t think I’ll like it.”

“What even is a goblin?” murmured Guo Hui.

I exhaled, steadying my breath as the wind howled faintly from the cave. Its entrance gaped like a wound in the hillside. It was jagged and damp.

“Can I take the lead from here?” I asked, glancing at Lin Jing and Guo Hui. “I’ve got a skill that lets me see in the dark.”

Lin Jing gave me a look, assessing. “I’m fine with it,” he said finally, snapping open his fan before tucking it back into his sleeve. “But I’ll accompany you. I have a movement technique for dim environments. That said, junior, do you have a method to silence your steps?”

“I should manage,” I said, perhaps too quickly. Truth be told, I wasn’t confident at all, but my pride refused to admit it. “I’m more worried about the traps these creatures set up. I’ve seen kobold dens before, and they’re clever. I’ll neutralize whatever I find before it causes trouble.”

Guo Hui laughed as he hoisted his torch. The orange light flickered across the walls, revealing faint claw marks and odd symbols scratched into the stone. “Fine by me,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you two. Just yell if something happens.”

I grinned. “Don’t worry, senior Guo Hui. You’ll hear me long before that.”

The three of us entered the cave.

Lin Jing and I led the front, moving side by side at first before establishing a rhythm. Every ten meters, we switched positions, one moving slightly ahead while the other covered the rear. Guo Hui followed about twenty meters behind us, his torchlight flickering faintly like a dying firefly in the distance.

It wasn’t long before we encountered our first trap, a pitfall covered by thin layers of soil and woven reeds. Lin Jing caught it before I did, crouching gracefully and brushing away the dirt with his fan’s edge.

“Hmm. Primitive,” he whispered. “But the poison on these stakes is fresh.”

He disarmed it quickly, using a small thread of qi to neutralize the trigger wire. His movements were elegant and unhurried. When he stepped, it was as if the air itself carried him. His steps made no sound.

He truly moved like wind and shadow.

As for me, I had my own method. I relied on Divine Sense, sweeping the tunnel with invisible perception, and when something felt off, I jabbed ahead with my sheathed sword. My approach was… less refined.

But it worked.

I smacked a suspicious rock, and sure enough, a splatter of greenish acid burst across the ground. The hiss echoed faintly through the cave.

“Acid splash,” Lin Jing muttered. “Not bad, junior. Your instincts are sharp.”

“Just lucky,” I said, brushing my sleeve.

We continued deeper. The air grew colder, and the stone damp underfoot. A faint trickle of water dripped from the ceiling, echoing like slow heartbeats.

And still, there were no kobolds. That was wrong. By now, we should’ve been swarmed. Kobolds were territorial; they’d never let intruders get this deep without resistance.

“Are they watching us?”

The tunnel curved sharply, narrowing until only one of us could pass at a time. Lin Jing waved me forward.

“Junior,” he whispered, “your movement… it’s impressive. You remind me of the Empire’s undertakers.”

I blinked at him. “Undertakers?”

He nodded. “A silent order of assassins and corpse handlers. They move like ghosts, soundless and unseen. You walk just like them.”

“Oh,” I said, forcing a small laugh. “Maybe I picked it up from someone.”

In truth, I was just mimicking Jiang Zhen’s footwork. The same pattern and same rhythm, even if it didn’t quite suit me. It clashed with everything I was, so the technique wasn’t probably for me. I guessed, I’m just not built for stealth.

“Do you smell that?” asked Lin Jing.

I stopped mid-step, inhaling through my nose. A thick, metallic scent clung to the air. The taste of iron scraped my tongue.

“Blood,” I muttered, frowning. “And… something rotten.”

We advanced deeper, the path sloping downward. The faint glow of Guo Hui’s torch behind us flickered across the uneven walls, revealing streaks of crimson smeared like desperate handprints. My steps grew lighter, quieter, every sound swallowed by the damp air.

“...Oh, look at this.”

The cavern opened up into a small hollow chamber. Bodies lay strewn across the stone floor, filled with kobolds, dozens of them, twisted and piled upon each other in grotesque heaps. Their fur was patchy, their bellies sunken, and several had unmistakable bite marks gouged into their flesh.

They’d eaten each other.

The smell of decay hit us all at once, rancid and suffocating. My stomach twisted, bile rising in my throat.

At the center of the carnage stood a single kobold. Its matted fur bristled, its eyes wide and bloodshot, glowing faintly red. It gripped a short sword so rusted it might as well have been scrap metal. Around it, crude shapes crouched in silence. They were clay dolls, small and unevenly formed, cracks glowing faintly with spirit light. Golems, weak ones, but unnatural here.

“A shaman’s work…” I murmured, scanning the shadows. “But where’s the shaman?”

Before I could say more, the kobold’s head jerked up, nostrils flaring. Its eyes locked onto us.

“It sensed us,” Lin Jing hissed and then shouted, “GUO HUI! ATTACK!”

The clay dolls lurched to life all at once, clattering forward with eerie, hollow steps. I barely managed to lift my sword before one leapt at me, brittle limbs cracking against steel.

A roar thundered behind me.

Lightning surged through the cave, crackling blue-white as Guo Hui charged in. His entire body seemed to pulse with thunderous qi, arcs of light snaking around his limbs. He smashed into the dolls like a boulder dropped into water, as clay and dust exploded everywhere.

“This,” Lin Jing declared proudly, flicking open both of his fans, “is my senior brother’s Thunder Body! He might look like a fool, but appearances deceive.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. For someone of his bulk, Guo Hui moved like a storm. His mace swung once, twice, each strike crushing clay into fragments that disintegrated under his crackling aura.

No way I was letting myself get shown up.

I breathed deeply, channeling energy through my meridians. Divine Speed flowed into my sword, the blade thrumming softly as filaments of light gathered along its edge… They were silk threads, thin yet deadly. I stepped forward, each motion fluid, and cut down the clay dolls that tried to flank Guo Hui. Their fragile bodies split cleanly in two, collapsing without a sound.

Lin Jing seized the opening. With a flick of his wrist, his twin fans whirled forward, one clashing against the kobold’s blade, the other spinning midair toward its chest.

The kobold parried the first blow and sidestepped the second. The sound of steel scraping echoed sharply in the cavern.

“It has eighteen stars, the peak of Mind Enlightenment!” Lin Jing cried, eyes wide. “Guo Hui! We need to take it down, fast!”

Guo Hui lunged, mace raised high, crashing down with enough force to shake the cavern floor. The kobold twisted aside, barely avoiding a direct hit, but the impact shattered the ground beneath it. Lin Jing’s fans flashed like silver arcs as he tried to flank the creature, his movements swift and precise.

I took care of the stragglers, unifying my Divine Speed, Divine Might, and Divine Flesh. The sword’s silk threads extended outward in gleaming arcs, slicing through what remained of the clay dolls. Each strike cut with surgical precision, leaving nothing behind but broken shards.

I felt a sudden surge of energy, fierce and primal.

“Shit,” I hissed. “It’s using a skill!”

Mana and qi condensed around the kobold’s sword, rippling violently. Its eyes flared brighter as it roared, lunging straight at Guo Hui.

The blow landed before anyone could react.

Steel met flesh, and then bone cracked. Guo Hui’s left arm burst into blood as he caught the kobold’s blade with his mace and smashed it down on its skull in the same motion. The kobold’s head caved in with a sickening crunch, its body collapsing into a heap.

“Shit!” Guo Hui bellowed, blood splattering the stones. “It’s still alive!”

The kobold’s body convulsed, muscles twisting as its eyes flared again. The gaping wound in its skull began to close, flesh knitting together in real time. Qi and mana mingled, forming a faint, shimmering core within its chest.

“It’s… forming quintessence,” I muttered in disbelief. “How the hell can a kobold—”

Before I could finish, Lin Jing leapt forward, both fans glowing with a razor-sharp sheen of qi.

“Ravine Wolf Fangs!” he shouted.

The twin fans spun in opposite arcs, crossing paths as they carved deep into the regenerating kobold. Flesh and bone shredded apart, the creature’s body collapsing under the relentless assault.

Silence fell, broken only by Guo Hui’s ragged breathing.

Lin Jing rushed to his senior brother’s side, his tone suddenly worried. “Senior brother, you’re hurt!”

Guo Hui winced, pressing a hand to the bleeding stump of his arm. “Tch… just a scratch.”

“This request,” I said quietly, lowering my sword, “might be too much for us.”

Of course, it was too soon to give up just yet. The kobold still twitched faintly on the ground, its broken body refusing to accept death. I tightened my grip on my sword and whispered the invocation.

“Divine Smite.”

The words echoed like a chime in the cavern, rippling through the stale air. My blade flared with pale gold light before stabbing down. The impact sent a tremor through the earth as divine energy surged into the kobold’s body, purging it of every lingering trace of vitality. The faint glow in its eyes went dark for good this time.

Just to make sure, I muttered again, “War Smite.”

A surge of force burst from the blade, expanding outward like a shockwave. The remaining clay dolls cracked apart from the concussive blast, their brittle bodies shattering under the divine pressure. Several were sent flying into the cavern walls, breaking down into clumps of dull earth.

I didn’t stop. The momentum carried me forward, my sword slid back into its sheath as I switched to my hammer, a heavy black-iron thing that weighed almost as much as I did. The next clay doll lunged; I met it halfway, smashing it into dust with a single downward swing.

“Stagger.”

The skill pulsed through the weapon. The clay doll froze mid-motion before crumbling under the blow. I followed it up with Divine Speed, the world blurring as I dashed between the remaining clay golems, hammering them apart before they could react.

By the time I struck down the last one, the cave was silent again, save for the sound of my ragged breathing.

“Foolish,” I scolded to myself. “Holding back for the sake of some so-called martial journey. Someone could’ve died because of my pride.”

Guo Hui, slumped against a boulder, gave a half-hearted snort. His left arm was gone from the elbow down, but his grin remained defiant. “Hey, I’m still alive,” he rasped, forcing out a laugh despite the pain. “What’s with that face? The Empire’s got plenty of healers. I heard the Guardians even have spells that can grow back limbs. I’ll be fine.”

“No, it’s not that…” Lin Jing looked troubled.

Lin Jing hadn’t moved. His fans hung limply at his sides, and his expression was pale, almost as if the blood had drained from his face. When I met his eyes, he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he was staring at the kobold’s body, frozen in horror.

“Lin Jing?” I asked quietly. “What’s the problem?”

He swallowed hard before speaking. “That kobold…” His voice cracked slightly. “It used a martial art. From the Martial Alliance.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand. “What?”

He turned to me, his face grim. “That sword technique… it wasn’t a random swing. It was Falling Thunder Cut, a lesser art from the Martial Alliance’s True Thunder Form Sutra. I’ve seen my master demonstrate it during training. That thing—” He pointed at the corpse. “—just used it perfectly.”

A cold chill swept through me. A monster capable of martial arts. That wasn’t something the world could ignore.

I sheathed my sword and exhaled slowly. “So not only do they have qi and mana… they can cultivate.”

Guo Hui grimaced, half out of pain, half disbelief. “What kind of nonsense is that? You’re saying monsters are learning human techniques now?”

Lin Jing’s frown deepened. “We’re not even at the end of this cave. If something like that was guarding the entrance, I fear what waits deeper within.”

I could feel it too. There was a strange hum in the air, faint but unnatural. The qi here wasn’t pure. It carried a sweet, almost floral undertone that made my skin prickle. There was something old at work, something that didn’t belong in these lands.

“I hate to say it,” I murmured, “but this might be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Still… there were too many oddities. The kobolds, the golems, the martial techniques, and now that subtle distortion in the air. Every sign pointed toward an origin beyond the natural order.

I sighed. “Fine. Let’s do this properly.”

Before either of them could react, I invoked the technique that connected me to my true self.

“Castling.”

The world shimmered for a moment, and then everything shifted. My clone’s body dissolved into motes of light as my main body took its place. The cave seemed smaller now, the air heavier, and my senses sharper.

Guo Hui blinked in confusion, while Lin Jing took a step back at the sudden surge of divine pressure radiating from me.

“Rest now,” I said quietly. “Divine Word: Rest.”

A soft wave of power washed over them. Their eyes fluttered shut almost instantly. Lin Jing slumped against the wall, his fans falling to the ground, while Guo Hui leaned forward with a tired grin before slipping into unconsciousness.

By the time they woke, Guo Hui’s arm would be whole again.

I turned my gaze deeper into the cave. The air thrummed faintly, almost musical, as if something whispered from the darkness. I realized what it was. This place… this dungeon… it wasn’t the work of demons, or even corrupted qi.

Instead, it was the work of the Fey.