Chapter 19 ( trouble in the basin )

  The transition from the bustling town to the wilderness was swift. The concrete roads and Qi-powered lanterns gave way to dirt paths, dense undergrowth, and the heavy, humid air of the untamed wilds.

  Adam stood at the edge of Green Willow Basin — a sprawling region of fog-laced marshes and overgrown forested ridges. The thick canopies filtered the sunlight into scattered beams, and the distant sound of beast calls echoed through the trees.

  He closed his eyes for a moment.

  “According to the guard’s map… the herb grows near flowing water under shade. Deep in the basin, near cliffs with overgrowth. Estimated time: Two hours of search if undisturbed.”

  Without hesitation, he stepped forward, treading lightly. His robe barely rustled, and the soft crunch of twigs beneath his feet was the only sound.

  Vines hung low, brushing against his shoulders. Spirit butterflies flitted through the mist. Some bore faint glowing wings — signs of Qi-rich flora nearby.

  Adam’s eyes scanned the environment with mechanical precision, every motion efficient, every glance calculated.

  No signs of high-ranked beasts… yet.

  He paused by a murky stream, crouching. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a faint glimmer between two thick tree roots.

  Spirit Herb?

  He moved closer to investigate, brushing the leaves aside carefully.

  Adam straightened, one hand still resting on a half-plucked spirit herb. His gaze shifted slightly — his expression unchanged, but his senses sharpened.

  Five presences. One stronger than the rest. Hiding poorly.

  He didn’t look up. “You can stop pretending to stalk. You’ve been loud since you stepped into the basin.”

  Footsteps emerged from the mist, accompanied by chuckles and sneers. Kai Yun, clad in embroidered crimson and black robes, stepped out first. His eyes glowed a symbol of Foundation Establishment cultivation. Four lackeys followed — all Qi Condensation realm, faces filled with self-importance and smirks.

  Kai Yun’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ve got guts. I don’t know what kind of tricks you pulled, but you embarrassed me in front of the whole sect. You know I can’t let that go.”

  Adam slowly rose to his feet, brushing dirt from his robe. His voice was even, emotionless.

  “You act like the world revolves around you. Like every woman you lay eyes on is already yours.”

  Kai Yun’s face twitched. His smirk twisted into a scowl.

  “You think I act like I’m above everyone?” he said, voice rising. “I am above everyone in the Foundation Establishment realm. Not even Bo Jin dares to go against me. Every elder in the Foundation realm shows me face — because I’m the young master of the Yun Clan.”

  He pointed at Adam, eyes flaring with disdain.

  “And you? A Qi Condensation third realm nobody who hasn’t even started learning elemental arts — you dare look down on me? I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again.”

  Adam didn’t flinch.

  He simply responded, voice cold and calm:

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  Kai Yun waved his hand, stepping back. “Lackeys, soften him up.”

  A talisman flared beneath the first lackey’s foot. He vanished in a blink, reappearing beside Adam, lightning Qi sparking along his fists.

  He threw a flurry of electrified jabs, each one humming through the air.

  Adam’s thoughts: Lower dantian... physical style. Fast, but easy to predict once the pattern shows.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Adam leaned left, right — minimal movement, weaving through the strikes like a reed in water.

  Then — SNAP — his hand clamped onto the lackey’s face.

  [Forget why you're here]Adam used

  Golden energy surged into the lackey’s mind. His eyes glazed over. In that same second—

  CRACK.

  Adam slammed his head into the ground. The boy crumpled — not dead, just… empty.

  The next one roared and slammed a talisman into the dirt. Spikes of jagged stone erupted around Adam.

  “He’s trying to limit my movement. Crude.”

  He dashed forward, snapped a spike at the base, and flung it like a javelin — it grazed the earth lackey’s leg.

  The boy flinched. Adam closed the distance in a blink.

  A stone barrier snapped up around him.

  But Adam’s sword arm gleamed.

  BANG.

  His blade crashed into the wall once—twice—on the third, it shattered like brittle clay.

  He reached through the dust, grabbed the boy’s collar, and headbutted him. As bone met bone—

  [Forget your grudge,]

  Another spark of gold. Another body down.

  The third and fourth came together — a well-practiced combo.

  Lackey 3 threw out a beast pouch. A spectral ice wolf howled into being, its fangs glinting blue.

  Lackey 4 activated a black talisman. Shadows pooled around Adam’s eyes.

  “ Can’t see. Illusion-type… paired with a beast? Risky.”

  Pain exploded in his side. Claws tore through his robe and flesh — part of his gut spilled. Another bite crushed his shoulder.

  He gritted his teeth. Blood pooled down his chest.

  “ No. I’m not done yet.”

  He slammed his hand on the wolf’s head — golden energy flowed.

  The beast froze, trembling. It forgot how to move. Forgot what it was.

  Adam slid out from its jaws.

  With another hand, he pressed his palm over his wounds — white light swirled, sealing the gash, knitting muscle, regenerating flesh.

  The shadow illusion faded.

  Adam’s eyes snapped open.

  He bolted forward. The two lackeys had no defense — they weren’t fighters. Just support.

  BAM. BAM.

  Two clean blows.

  Two thuds on the ground.

  “Forget.”

  ---

  The air grew still again.

  Adam stood surrounded by four unconscious bodies — none dead, all breathing.

  The clearing is quiet, bodies of the unconscious lackeys lying nearby. The wind rustles the tall grass as Kai Yun claps slowly, stepping forward.

  "Impressive. Beating the lowest tier of my group... Congratulations."

  He smirks.

  "They’re so weak, I barely remember their names. Untalented trash. They'll die long before they touch Foundation Establishment."

  He pauses, tilting his head.

  "But you didn’t kill them. Strange. Makes me think you're either holding back… or…”

  He narrows his eyes.

  “You’re one of those. Afraid to kill.”

  “You’re right and wrong. I am not afraid of killing. I’m against killing.”

  Kai Yun throws his head back in laughter, loud and mocking.

  "That—" laughs harder "That has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!"

  He wipes a tear from his eye.

  "You just told me you won’t kill me. So what can you do? Nothing. I could cripple you, and you’d still let me walk away."

  “I said I’m against killing…

  But beating someone until they break?

  That’s fair game.”

  Kai Yun’s grin drops just a little, a flicker of irritation beneath the arrogance.

  "...Then come at me, hypocrite.”

  Kai Yun struck first — a blazing arc of fire Qi burst from his sword. Adam leapt aside, narrowly dodging as the shockwave ignited the underbrush behind him. Another fiery wave came — Adam ducked, slid low, then flipped over a crumbling boulder to avoid the third. But the fourth caught him — a direct hit to the shoulder that spun him sideways and sent him crashing through charred debris.

  Kai Yun didn't pause. More waves of fire followed, turning the basin clearing into a furnace.

  Adam ducked behind a fallen tree, using it as a makeshift shield. Burnt talismans and broken branches became part of his defense. He hurled a chunk of stone, forcing Kai Yun to sidestep — just long enough for Adam to close the distance.

  But ice bloomed from the ground.

  A 100-meter radius turned into slick, deathly terrain. Ice spikes erupted upward as a whip of frozen Qi lashed out, slicing across Adam's chest. Blood painted the ice. He slipped, recovered, and rolled back.

  One touch. That’s all I need. But he’s not giving me a single opening.

  Kai Yun grinned, the fire around him roaring louder. "You look like you're about to drop. Want to surrender?"

  He chuckled arrogantly. "You really thought you stood a chance? Let me educate you, worm. In the Qi Condensation realm, when someone reaches the peak — the fifteenth minor stage — their overall power increases by about 60%. Not bad, right? But Foundation Establishment is where real cultivators begin. Each minor stage here adds roughly a 30% increase in all power. And guess what? It's accumulative. I’m in the second minor realm — which means I already surpass any peak Qi Condensation clown by leagues.”

  Adam shifted tactics. He tore off his outer robe, flinging it sideways like a dummy. He threw broken talismans as false triggers, then circled fast and low.

  "Too slow!" Kai Yun roared and blasted a fire wave — but it only scorched cloth.

  Adam moved again, sliding close. He got within a meter —

  Ice exploded from beneath. A shockwave of cold and flame threw him back, spinning in the air before he crashed into a tree.

  His side was scorched, flesh bubbling. He tasted iron.

  He's draining his Qi… switching elements too fast. I just need... one moment.

  Adam rose slowly. “Is that all, Young Master Yun? Thought your clan taught control.”

  Kai Yun’s eyes narrowed. He surged forward, unleashing a furious torrent of flame.

  Adam dodged the first jet, weaved past the second, but the third caught his side. The fourth — he didn’t avoid. He took the hit.

  Fire engulfed him, his body seared, his skin charred. He dropped, motionless, smoke rising from his body.

  Kai Yun approached, laughing. “And here I thought you were different.”

  Adam moved.

  A desperate tumble — a single slide through the frost. In the moment Kai Yun raised his sword to strike again, Adam’s hand latched onto his ankle.

  In a blink —

  The fire vanished.

  Kai Yun’s expression turned blank. Confused.

  “Where…?” he mumbled. “What am I doing here?”

  Adam stood slowly, eyes dull, face covered in soot and blood. “Good night.”

  memory manipulation surged through Kai Yun’s mind, blanketing his consciousness in a forced illusion of sleep.

  Kai Yun crumpled to the ground, fast asleep.

  The frost melted slowly as Adam limped away, smoke still rising from his shoulders.

  Adam moved through the forest, each step leaving behind a smear of blood and a burnt scent. The frost on his skin steamed in the sunlight, his body screaming in pain. But the weight in his chest had nothing to do with wounds.

  He glanced back.

  Kai Yun lay unconscious, breath shallow and unstable. Adam had erased just enough — the hostility, the reason for the fight. Nothing more.

  But what if he'd gone further?

  What if he'd stripped away everything?

  He slowed, breath ragged. Would that still be mercy? Or just another form of death?

  A whisper stirred in his mind. Zayk's voice — cold and precise.

  “Do not kill. Do not contribute to the death of another being.”

  Adam clenched his jaw. “If I erase who someone is… if what’s left is an empty shell… isn’t that just a slower kind of murder?”

  His hands trembled.

  “No. I was careful. He'll wake up confused, but alive.”

  Still, the question lingered — heavier than the pain in his ribs.

  “How many more touches before I cross a line I can’t come back from?”

  He dragged himself behind a rock, knelt down, and activated his healing ability. Gentle golden light — his affinity with the light element — pulsed from his palms and flowed into his charred skin. Burns sealed shut, bones reset, and the pain dulled.

  But as the light faded and Adam exhaled in relief —

  Thunk.

  A sharp sting hit his neck. He looked down —

  a needle.

  Poison? No... a drug.

  His vision blurred. Legs gave out.

  As the world turned sideways, Adam saw a silhouette step from the trees. Robes fluttering, presence undeniable — another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  Then darkness took him.