ARK SPIRIT

The moment Tieu Van saw the oasis, he could no longer contain himself.

“Finally, somewhere that actually looks fit for people to live.”

Trieu Phong glanced at him.

“Check it first.”

Tieu Van coughed awkwardly and obediently stayed where he was.

The squad quickly spread out, though no one strayed too far from the others.

Hao Nhien circled the lake and found no fresh demonic beast tracks or obvious scent of blood. Trieu Phong examined the ground and confirmed that there were no large hollow spaces beneath the area they intended to use for rest.

Lam Tuyet walked to the water’s edge and lowered a hand to the surface. After several days beneath the relentless desert sun, the moisture gathering around her seemed softer than Hao Nhien had ever seen it.

She raised her hand gently.

A thin stream of clear water rose from the lake and fell over several dried shrubs nearby. Leaves that had curled beneath the heat slowly opened a little, while a faint coolness drifted toward the others on the breeze.

Tieu Van exhaled in relief.

“Miss Lam, you really are a lifesaver.”

Lam Tuyet shook her head.

“I’m only cooling things down a little.”

She guided another thin veil of moisture into the sand around their resting area to reduce the heat.

Hao Nhien was about to remind her to conserve spiritual power when he suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation in the spiritual qi ahead.

It was not strong, but a wave of heat was rising from beneath the largest cluster of shrubs.

At almost the same moment, Trieu Phong placed his hand against the ground.

His expression changed.

“Back!”

The sand beneath the shrubs split apart.

A muffled explosion followed as sand and stones burst into the air.

A massive head emerged from underground. Dark red eyes, glowing like heated coals, fixed directly on Lam Tuyet. The creature opened its mouth, and a stream of yellow-red flame erupted toward her.

Lam Tuyet reacted just as quickly. Both hands rose, forming a shield of water before her.

Fire struck water.

Steam exploded outward.

The impact forced Lam Tuyet several steps back, and her face went pale.

Luu Hoa rushed forward and sent a stream of flame diagonally across the attack, pushing the remaining fire away from her.

Hao Nhien was already at her side.

“Are you hurt?”

Lam Tuyet steadied her breathing and shook her head.

“I’m fine.”

Hao Nhien turned back toward the shrubs.

Sand was still sliding away.

The massive body beneath it gradually emerged.

It was a Mystic Turtle nearly half the size of a stone house. Its shell was reddish brown and covered in patterns resembling hardened lava. Most of its head, four limbs, and tail remained hidden beneath the shell, extending only far enough for it to watch them and breathe fire.

A Fire Sand Mystic Turtle.

Hao Nhien soon realized that it had no intention of chasing them.

The creature remained beneath the large tree, its red eyes fixed on the squad. Waves of scorching heat occasionally escaped from its mouth.

Trieu Phong observed it for a moment.

“It’s guarding its territory.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Lam Tuyet changed the temperature and moisture around that area. We probably woke it.”

Tieu Van stared at the shell, which looked almost as thick as a city wall.

“That thing doesn’t look like it wants anyone hitting it.”

Luu Hoa, however, was watching the fire qi around the demonic beast’s head.

“Third rank, Fire affinity.”

He did not finish the sentence.

No one needed him to.

A third-rank demonic beast core was not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator simply absorbed for spiritual power. Its true value lay in the elemental structure preserved within it. A sufficiently pure Fire affinity core could allow a cultivator of the same affinity to observe how fire aligned spiritual power circulated, transformed, and maintained itself.

For Luu Hoa, it was a rare opportunity for insight.

Hao Nhien studied the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle for a little longer.

It was different from the Sand Scorpions and Sand Wolves.

It was not hunting them.

It was not trying to lure them into a trap.

It simply wanted intruders out of its territory.

That also meant that if things went badly, they could retreat.

He looked at Trieu Phong.

“Want to try?”

The squad leader did not answer right away. His gaze moved across the Mystic Turtle’s position, the lake, and the terrain around them.

“We have a way out.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Hao Nhien continued, “If we can’t break its defense, we retreat. No one takes unnecessary risks.”

Trieu Phong nodded.

“Agreed.”

The squad withdrew beyond the range of its flames before beginning their first probe.

For now, they only wanted to test it.

Quan Nha and Hao Nhien split to opposite sides, looking for ways to force the Mystic Turtle to react. Lam Phong held the front line with his round shield beside Trieu Phong, while Tieu Van waited on the flank with his twin short sabers. Luu Hoa and Lam Tuyet remained behind them, one using fire techniques to harass the beast while the other reduced the heat and helped suppress its flames.

It took only a few exchanges for the squad to understand just how formidable that shell was.

Quan Nha’s sword struck it and left nothing more than a faint white mark.

Lam Phong tried driving the edge of his shield toward the gap between one front leg and the shell, but heat burst from within and forced him back. Trieu Phong raised an earthen wall behind the creature to restrict its movement, only for the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle to breathe once and turn the surface red before cracks spread through it.

Luu Hoa tried suppressing it with his own flames, but the beast’s fire qi drove his attack back and forced him to dodge aside.

Hao Nhien also attempted to close the distance several times. Whenever the Mystic Turtle extended its head, he used his movement technique to search for an opening, but the creature withdrew into its shell the moment it sensed danger.

Not long after, Trieu Phong raised a hand and signaled them to stop.

Everyone withdrew beyond its attack range.

Tieu Van braced both hands on his knees.

“I feel like we’re fighting a mountain that breathes fire.”

Lam Phong lowered his round shield.

“At least a normal mountain doesn’t know how to hide its head.”

Hao Nhien wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Continuing like this will only waste spiritual power.”

Trieu Phong nodded.

“We won’t break that shell with brute force. We need to throw it off balance or force the softer parts of its body into the open.”

While everyone rested, Tieu Lan handed out medicine and heat clearing water.

She checked Luu Hoa’s hand, noticed a patch of reddened skin, and spread a layer of cooling medicinal salve over it.

Luu Hoa looked slightly embarrassed.

“I’m fine.”

“You still need the medicine.”

Tieu Lan kept her head lowered.

“Its fire isn’t the same as yours.”

Luu Hoa fell silent at once.

Hao Nhien smiled faintly at the exchange, then turned his attention back to the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle.

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He watched it for a while longer.

“Stop attacking the shell.”

Trieu Phong looked over.

“You have an idea?”

Hao Nhien pointed toward the ground in front of the beast.

“If we want to kill it, we need to force it out of that spot.”

He continued slowly, working through the plan as he spoke.

“Quan Nha disrupts its perception and reduces the pressure it senses from the front for a moment. Luu Hoa focuses on irritating the gap around its neck. I’ll use my Wind affinity to alter the flow of heat and drive the flames deeper into that opening.”

“Lam Tuyet cools the area around whoever closes in and prepares the sand in front of it. Trieu Phong and Lam Phong pressure it from behind and one side until it has to move.”

Tieu Van looked at him.

“And me?”

“Wait for one of its legs to come out.”

Hao Nhien answered without hesitation.

“Your twin sabers are better suited to the joints than anything the rest of us have.”

Trieu Phong studied the terrain for a moment and quickly understood.

“We don’t need to flip the whole thing. We only need to shift its balance to one side.”

“Exactly.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“If the underside shows, that’s enough.”

No one rushed into action.

The squad took some time to settle their positions before returning.

Quan Nha moved first.

Her eyes gradually darkened.

There was no crushing pressure against the mind, nor any overwhelming enchantment that robbed a target of thought. Instead, an extremely faint ripple passed through the space ahead, subtle enough that Hao Nhien might have mistaken it for the final light of day being distorted by heat rising from the sand.

Then several blurred figures appeared in front of the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle.

They resembled members of the squad, though their faces were indistinct and their bodies lacked complete substance. They were only convincing enough to give the impression of several people slowly retreating toward the lake.

Hao Nhien knew perfectly well that they were not real, yet for a brief instant even his gaze was drawn toward them.

The Mystic Turtle reacted much more strongly.

Its head, which had only been protruding slightly from its shell, turned toward the phantom figures. Fire qi swelled in its mouth, and several short bursts of flame shot forward.

The blurred figures distorted as the flames passed through them, then dissolved.

Hao Nhien understood Quan Nha’s intention at once.

The Charm Eyes did not truly convince the demonic beast that an entire group of people was retreating before it. They merely distorted its perception for a single beat, making what its eyes and instincts had just registered seem more credible than it really was.

Although the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle had reached the third rank and possessed greater intelligence than lower-rank demonic beasts, it was still far removed from the awareness of a true cultivator. Its advancement had greatly strengthened its body, spiritual power, and combat instincts, but its understanding had not developed at the same pace. Especially while defending its territory, much of its reaction still came from instinct.

That was why even a minor distortion in what it perceived could trigger a response before its limited reason recognized anything unusual.

One brief opening was enough for the others to move closer from another direction.

Luu Hoa waited for that exact moment before firing a thin line of flame straight at the gap near the creature’s neck.

Wind affinity spiritual power spread along the heated current. Hao Nhien did not create additional fire. Instead, he altered the flow of air, guiding Luu Hoa’s flames deeper into the narrow opening around the neck.

The Mystic Turtle was finally enraged.

Its head thrust farther out.

One front leg planted hard into the sand.

“Now.”

Trieu Phong and Lam Phong circulated their Earth affinity together.

Trieu Phong raised the ground behind the beast, while Lam Phong used his shield as an anchor point, reinforcing one side of the earth before driving the pressure diagonally into the creature’s body.

The Fire Sand Mystic Turtle was forced half a step forward.

Lam Tuyet had been waiting.

She did not freeze the surface of the sand. Instead, moisture seeped into a small patch beneath the front foot that had just landed. The rapid shift in temperature disturbed the previously stable structure of the sand beneath it.

One of the Mystic Turtle’s legs sank deeper than the other.

Its enormous body tilted.

At last, part of the vulnerable underside was exposed.

Tieu Van rushed in.

His twin short sabers ignored the shell entirely and cut together toward the strained front leg joint.

Dark red blood sprayed across the sand.

The Fire Sand Mystic Turtle roared and tried to pull its leg back.

Quan Nha had already closed in from the opposite side.

Her sword struck precisely into the exposed gap beneath the shell.

This time, there was no metallic rebound.

The blade cut into flesh.

Hao Nhien arrived as well.

He did not draw his sword.

The exposed underside would only remain open for a moment, and what he wanted was not a surface cut but force driven deep into the body.

Hao Nhien stepped onto a slab of stone Trieu Phong had just raised, launched himself upward, and dropped directly toward the unprotected belly.

His right fist tightened.

Spiritual power compressed according to the Body Soul Fist Art, concentrating his entire force into a single point.

The punch landed.

There was no violent explosion.

Only a heavy, muffled impact from deep within the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle’s body.

Its entire frame shuddered.

The softer underside caved inward slightly, while blood poured faster from the wound around its leg joint.

The demonic beast tried to withdraw its head into the shell.

This time, Hao Nhien did not continue with his fists.

The Tieu Dao Sword left its sheath.

Quan Nha shifted position at the same moment.

Her sword forced the Mystic Turtle’s head slightly off line as it tried to retreat. Hao Nhien followed the opening, Wind affinity spiritual power running along his blade.

The sword tip drove straight into the gap beneath its neck.

The Fire Sand Mystic Turtle released one final roar.

The fire qi gathering in its mouth faded before it could erupt.

Its massive body collapsed into the sand, sending a faint tremor through the oasis.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Only their heavy breathing remained.

Tieu Van dropped down onto the sand.

“If anyone ever tells me turtles are easy to fight because they’re slow, I’m never believing them again.”

Lam Phong set his shield beside his leg.

“Neither am I.”

Luu Hoa, however, could not take his eyes off the corpse.

Trieu Phong rested for a while before walking over to examine the beast’s head.

After carefully cutting through the necessary layers, he removed a dark red demonic beast core. There were no actual flames inside it, but thin strands of fiery light flowed continuously through the core according to a stable pattern.

An early third-rank demonic beast core.

Fire affinity.

Trieu Phong held it for a moment, then looked around at the others.

“This suits Luu Hoa better than any of us. Any objections?”

No one said a word.

Tieu Van even waved a hand.

“Just looking at it makes me feel hot.”

Lam Tuyet nodded.

“Let him have it.”

Only then did Trieu Phong toss the core over.

Luu Hoa caught it quickly. He looked at it for a while before speaking.

“I’ll take it. If we find something better suited to any of you later, I won’t be stingy with my share.”

Trieu Phong simply said:

“Remember that.”

Tieu Van immediately added:

“I have a very good memory.”

Several of them laughed.

Luu Hoa laughed as well, but the moment he lowered his eyes to the demonic beast core, his expression quickly became serious. Hao Nhien could tell that he badly wanted to understand what was hidden within it.

That night, the Wind and Cloud Squad decided to camp beside the oasis.

They harvested only the easier materials from the Fire Sand Mystic Turtle’s corpse. Its shell was far too large and heavy to carry for now. Tieu Lan carefully inspected some of the meat before allowing Luu Hoa to cook it over a small flame together with a few medicinal herbs.

After days of dried rations, a pot of hot soup by the lake gave everyone a rare chance to relax.

Tieu Van spoke between mouthfuls.

“After fighting that thing for so long, at least it wasn’t a waste.”

Lam Phong glanced toward Luu Hoa.

“That depends on whether he can understand anything from the core.”

Luu Hoa was already sitting cross-legged a short distance from the fire. The dark red core rested before him as he observed it in silence.

Tieu Lan placed some heat clearing medicinal water nearby, then returned to sit with the others without disturbing him.

Hao Nhien did not watch for long either.

Insight was something Luu Hoa had to find for himself.

No one else could cross that threshold in his place.

The night slowly passed.

Near dawn, when the eastern sky had only begun to turn gray, Hao Nhien was meditating when he sensed the Fire affinity spiritual power around the lake suddenly change.

He opened his eyes.

Luu Hoa was still sitting motionless.

The core before him had neither disappeared nor been drained, but the aura around his body was clearly changing. His Fire affinity spiritual power, once somewhat restless and volatile, was beginning to draw inward.

It did not weaken.

Instead, it became steadier and more condensed.

After a while, Luu Hoa opened his eyes.

A flame appeared in his palm.

It was no larger than before.

Yet its color had deepened, and it no longer wavered erratically in the wind.

Trieu Phong looked at him.

“You understood something?”

Luu Hoa stared at the flame in his hand, disbelief still visible on his face.

“I used to think that the stronger Fire affinity became, the more violently it had to burn. But that Mystic Turtle kept its fire qi contained inside its body for so long and only released it when necessary…”

His fingers closed slightly.

The flame compressed into a smaller point.

“I think I understand a little now.”

His aura rose by a clear step.

The demonic beast core had not transferred spiritual power into him. Instead, a bottleneck that had already existed within Luu Hoa’s own cultivation had finally opened.

Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Trieu Phong reacted first.

“You actually broke through?”

Luu Hoa stood, unable to hide his smile.

“Yeah.”

Lam Phong laughed as well.

“Looks like that core really wasn’t wasted.”

Luu Hoa looked around at everyone, then back at the demonic beast core still lying on the ground.

“I only understood a small part of it. There’s still a lot inside that I haven’t figured out.”

Trieu Phong nodded.

“Then keep it. Continue studying it later.”

Luu Hoa carefully stored the core in his storage pouch.

“All right.”

No one shouted a slogan.

No one made the moment overly solemn either.

Tieu Van simply walked over and slapped him on the shoulder.

“If we run into something Fire affinity next time, remember to stand in front.”

Luu Hoa laughed.

“Fine.”

Lam Tuyet spoke softly.

“Congratulations.”

Tieu Lan smiled.

“Congratulations, Brother Luu Hoa.”

Even Quan Nha gave him a small nod.

Hao Nhien looked around.

After five days, the Wind and Cloud Squad still had only eight members. Their roster was incomplete, and no one could call them particularly strong.

Yet something had changed.

When one person became stronger, the others were genuinely happy for him.

When someone made a mistake, the entire squad remembered it.

When one person was injured, another naturally stepped in to cover the opening.

Perhaps only now was the name Wind and Cloud beginning to carry real meaning.

The atmosphere around the camp had only just relaxed when the morning wind shifted.

Hao Nhien was about to stand when he caught an extremely faint scent carried on the breeze. Animal fur, a trace of dried blood, and beneath both of them, a wild presence suppressed until it was barely noticeable.

His smile slowly faded.

The Fire Sand Mystic Turtle’s corpse lay far off on the opposite side of the oasis, well away from their camp and outside the direction of the night wind. The traces around their resting place had also been handled carefully.

This was not the result of carelessness.

The Western Wastes simply had never promised that doing everything correctly would make a place safe.

Hao Nhien kept his body still. The scent was coming from behind them, from the direction of the twisted palms along the rear edge of the oasis.

Rather than turn around, he lowered his gaze to the lake.

The clear surface reflected the palms behind him.

Between those distorted trunks, three dark shapes were moving low and slow, almost pressed against the sand.

His hand settled on the hilt of the Tieu Dao Sword.

“Don’t turn around.”

His voice was quiet enough that only those nearest him could hear.

Trieu Phong, standing nearby, lost his smile at once.

“How many?”

“Three.”

Hao Nhien kept watching the reflection.

One large.

Two smaller.

When they moved farther out from the trees, he finally saw their yellow-gray fur streaked with black, almost perfectly blending into the sand. Three pairs of green eyes flashed beneath the dim light of dawn.

Desert Leopards.

The largest gave off the aura of an early third-rank demonic beast.

The other two were both at the late second rank.

Trieu Phong asked nothing more.

His hand lowered slowly.

The warning signal passed through the squad.

Lam Phong raised his round shield. Tieu Van remained silent, both hands already resting on the hilts of his twin short sabers. Lam Tuyet put away her water bottle, while Luu Hoa suppressed the flame that had just appeared in his palm.

Tieu Lan was standing near Quan Nha. Recognizing the others’ movements, she quietly took half a step inward.

The three Desert Leopards continued approaching.

No growls.

No rush.

The largest suddenly lowered its body.

Hao Nhien saw the muscles beneath its fur tense.

“Prepare.”

Before the word had fully left his mouth, the leopard moved.

Three black shadows burst from the edge of the trees at once.

Faster than the Fire Sand Wolves.

The two second-rank beasts split to either side, one left and one right, clearly trying to stretch the squad’s formation.

The third-rank leopard in the center did not charge Hao Nhien or Trieu Phong.

It chose a target farther inside.

Tieu Lan.

Perhaps to the instincts of a hunting beast, her fourth-layer Qi Condensation aura was the most obvious weakness among them.

But Quan Nha was standing right beside her.

The instant black claws tore through the air, she stepped sideways and placed herself between Tieu Lan and the Desert Leopard.

Quan Nha’s eyes darkened.

The Charm Eyes opened for only a single beat.

She could not truly control a third-rank demonic beast, but that brief disruption was enough to shift the pounce that had been aimed directly at Tieu Lan’s throat by several inches.

Quan Nha’s sword was already out.

A slash struck the leopard across the head.

Blood sprayed.

But the moment the blade landed, Hao Nhien knew it was not enough.

He had fought third-rank demonic beasts himself and understood better than Quan Nha just how great the physical gap was between a creature at that level and someone at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation. Her sword could wound it, but there was little chance of disabling it. Worse, the pain might be enough to drag its savage instincts free of the brief influence of the Charm Eyes.

His prediction became reality almost at once.

The vicious clarity returned to the Desert Leopard’s green eyes. Its body twisted in midair, and one claw swept toward Quan Nha’s throat, five black talons flashing like curved hooks. At that distance, there was almost no room left to evade.

Tieu Lan’s cry broke through the dawn.

“Sister Quan Nha!”

“Sister Quan Nha!”