The late morning sun spilled through the canopy, catching the ripples of the stream, but the air felt electric — not with the promise of a storm, but with anticipation.
Li Wei raised his fingers, and white lightning leapt from the tip, a clean streak of energy cutting through open space.
It arced toward the ground, but before it could strike, the stranger absorbed it with an almost gluttonous eagerness. Sparks scattered across the soil, drawn into him like iron filings to a magnet.
His chest rose and fell as if he were savoring something. The bolt struck him, and a faint shimmer ran across his body, energy absorbed with an ease that made Li Wei pause.
“Again,” the man said, voice hoarse but calm. Hunger lingered in his tone, not arrogance.
“I want more.”
Li Wei’s eyes widened slightly, hesitant, but he obeyed. Another bolt shot forth, precise and straight. Again, the stranger drank it in, his form rippling with absorbed energy.
Finally, he straightened and stepped back, brushing dirt from his sleeves.
“Thanks for the meal,” he said, voice lighter now, carrying a faint grin.
“I suppose I should properly introduce myself.”
He exhaled, satisfied. “…Name’s Feng,” he said casually, dusting off his plain traveler’s robes.
The name seemed to carry weight, like a peak rising above the valleys.
Li Wei blinked. “Feng?”
“峰, Feng,” he clarified lightly. “Peak. Mountain top.”
Feng’s expression shifted, serious now, like a shadow passing over his features.
“I come from the Celestial Fang Sect. My sect sent me down the mountains for trial — demons, harsh terrain, cultivation tests. But… I miscalculated.
My provisions weren’t enough. And the way our cultivation works, output is always twice the input.” He exhaled sharply. “So… I have to improvise.”
Li Wei frowned. “Improvise?”
Zhi Yuan’s brow rose. “And so… you eat lightning?”
Feng grinned. “Eat lightning. The only way to catch up.”
Feng chuckled, faintly amused. “Effectively. Only works for a physique like mine — what they call gluttonous. Heavenly Dao’s favourite anomaly. Not for everyone. Lightning nourishes, builds… sustains.
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Zhi Yuan’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. A gluttonous physique… the kind mythic texts mention, a body that grows by devouring elemental energy. Rare… dangerous.
The man tilted his head toward Li Wei. “Though your lightning… it’s different. Charred, almost burnt. A little like fire mixture.”
Zhi Yuan nodded, words spilling almost automatically. “Lightning derives from friction — usually fire against metal, sometimes wood against fire. That clash creates the spark. And then it jumps, seeking imbalance.”
The man’s eyes gleamed. “Pure lightning is rarer. It isn’t just two elements clashing. Air itself — a mix of water, fire, metal — becomes the friction point. That’s where lightning truly comes from. That’s why it calls to me.”
Feng’s expression darkened. “Most mortals can’t handle its raw power. I… can.”
A sudden rustle tore through the clearing. Leaves shivered unnaturally. The air vibrated with unstable Qi. Both Li Wei and Feng tensed.
All three turned at once.
The clearing ahead twisted unnaturally. Branches snapped as something large forced its way through. A low growl rolled across the clearing.
A rhinoceros beast with rocky armour and poisonous multi-horns, capable of camouflaging as a boulder appeared.
Its hide was thick, ridged like cracked stone. Veins pulsed faintly beneath the surface, reacting to the residual lightning still lingering in the air.
“It was drawn here,” Feng muttered. “By the discharge.”
The creature’s eyes locked onto them.
And charged.
Li Wei reacted first.
Feng’s gaze swept the clearing. “…Rogue beast?”
Li Wei nodded. He raised his fingers again. White Lightning flashed toward the beast.
Feng mirrored him, summoning Black Lightning — deeper, heavier, more concentrated. When the two bolts met midair, they collided and fizzled, cancelling each other out. A hiss of suppressed energy filled the forest.
Li Wei and Feng were dumbfounded.
“What—?!”
The beast closed the distance.
Too fast.
Zhi Yuan stepped forward calmly. “Li Wei, use your slash Qi.”
Li Wei drew his blade and cut forward.
A crescent of pale Qi tore through the air and struck the beast’s chest.
The creature staggered but did not fall.
Its hide smoked. Its claws slammed into the earth, carving trenches through soil and stone.
“Li Wei — again!” Zhi Yuan called out.
Li Wei slashed once more, sending a second arc of Qi.
Feng, being a young cultivator with barely any experience dealing with a rogue beast, frightened out of his wits, closed his eyes and randomly fired off his black lightning.
Black Lightning exploded from his palm.
Uncontrolled. Wild.
It should have missed.
It should have scattered.
Instead, for a fraction of a second, the two forces resisted each other.
Then—They merged, in perfect timing — a coincidental harmony — Li Wei’s slash Qi intersected and merged with Feng’s black lightning.
A crescent qi, dark as ink, edged with crackling current.
It struck the beast directly, slashing through scales and sinew, leaving the forest unnervingly silent as the creature crumpled.
The beast didn’t roar. It didn’t have time.
Silence followed.
Li Wei and Feng staggered back, dumbfounded. “Did… did we just—?” Li Wei began, voice trembling.
The three stared at the scorched clearing and burnt beast.
Feng let out a shaky laugh and wiped sweat from his brow.
“…I think,” he said slowly, looking between them, “I’d survive longer sticking with you two.”
Feng brushed his hair back, grinning.
A breeze moved through the clearing.
Zhi Yuan smiled.
The subtle hum of energy around them shifted. Not chaotic, not violent — but different. Slightly unbalanced.
Zhi Yuan’s mind flickered at the edges. Somewhere beyond perception, a ledger had been nudged. Entropy, imperceptibly, had ticked forward.
The forest exhaled. The rogue beast lay neutralized. And unseen, a shadow watched — Feng’s sect, evaluating.
