Jin Shu stood at the edge of a mountain ridge, gazing over a vast forest of towering trees—giants that stretched hundreds of feet into the air, their trunks thick enough to swallow a house. Beyond that living sea of green loomed an even greater mountain range, its jagged peaks swallowed by roiling storm clouds.

"So this is the Demon Mountains?" he asked the women beside him.

Li Xue only shrugged. It was her first time here as well.

"This is just the outskirts," Tian Li explained, her eyes fixed on the dark peaks above. "The mountains level out high above those clouds, and from there rise again into an even taller range. That is considered the true Demon Mountains—where it's said a demon once built a citadel."

"A citadel? You mean like a fortress-city?" Jin Shu asked.

"Yes. But no one has ever confirmed it. A barrier of impenetrable qi surrounds the summit," Biyu answered.

Li Xue frowned. "That demon doesn't still live up there, does it?"

Both Tian Li and Biyu only shrugged.

"There are no records, just stories passed down by word of mouth," Tian Li said, lowering her voice. "According to them, the demons were exterminated hundreds of years ago by a cultivator of unimaginable power."

"Who?" Li Xue pressed. "Do any of the stories name them?"

Tian Li shook her head. "Not a single one I've heard."

Jin Shu frowned. "But if it really happened, why are there no records?"

"There were," Biyu said.

He turned to her. "But Tian Li just said—"

"She's right," Biyu interrupted. "There are no records now. But there were, a century and a half ago—before the demon worshippers erased them."

"Erased them? Every last trace? How?"

"Demonic magic," she whispered.

"Magic…?" Jin Shu blinked. "Like wizards and spells?"

"I don't know what a wizard is," Biyu replied with a solemn nod. "But yes. Through ritual sacrifices, they cast spells with otherworldly effects. One such spell erased all traces of the war against the demons."

Jin Shu exhaled slowly, struggling to believe it.

Even in a world of qi that stretched lifespans into eternity, where cultivators wielded power that made them more than human, and where he himself carved runes to give weapons strange abilities—magic still felt out of place. In Gold's world, magic was something from fairy tales with knights and dragons. Not here. Though… dragons certainly existed, so maybe it wasn't that strange.

Whatever. None of that matters now. We're here to wipe out the beasts before they threaten the nearby villages, he reminded himself, shaking the thought away.

"So, how do we actually find the demonic beasts?" he asked, gesturing toward the forest below. "Do we just wander until we run into them?"

"No." Tian Li shook her head. "Demonic beasts are wild animals whose bodies absorbed more qi than they could handle. It warped their minds, drove them violent. They'll always gather where ambient qi is thickest."

"And how do we know where that is?"

"By feeling," she said simply, with a shrug.

He gave her a blank look.

"There's a reason the sect made this a group mission—and it isn't just for safety," Biyu explained. "Everyone has different sensitivity to ambient qi. Some—like Tian Li—can feel it on their skin as if it were something physical. Others can't sense qi at all. Those are mortals who can't cultivate."

"Oh. So you're supposed to choose teammates based on that?"

"That's one reason, yes."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we brought Tian Li."

"I can feel it too!" Li Xue raised her hand.

"Mine isn't the best," Biyu admitted, "but my sensitivity is high enough to feel qi if I focus."

"I can feel it in my fur!"

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"And me in my feathers!"

Yin'er and Ji Ji popped up from whatever adventure they'd been off on, beaming with pride.

Jin Shu sighed. "So… I'm the only one who can't feel qi?"

"I'm sure you can," Biyu said encouragingly. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to cultivate. You've probably just never paid attention to it."

"Whatever." He waved it off. "So, where's the qi strongest?"

Tian Li pointed toward the forest's center. Li Xue pointed deeper still, toward the base of the mountains. Yin'er, however, stared up at the storm-shrouded peaks.

"Waaaay up there." She pointed at the clouds.

Jin Shu didn't need to guess—she meant the demon's citadel. He had no intention of climbing into a storm just to knock on an impenetrable barrier. Rubbing Yin'er's head, he turned back to the others.

"So… two places?"

"Seems like it." Tian Li shrugged.

"I think mine's a little stronger," Li Xue argued.

"Well, Tian Li's is closer, so we'll start there," Jin Shu decided. He glanced at them seriously. "Remember what we went over about using the guns I gave you. There'll be other cultivators in the forest—don't forget your surroundings."

The three women nodded. He then turned to the two younger ones.

"You two…" He let out a long sigh. "Don't cause too much trouble, please."

Ji Ji puffed out her chest and patted it with a wing. "Don't worry. I'll keep Yin'er in line."

Jin Shu didn't say it aloud, but that was the opposite of reassuring.

"Let's go." He shook his head and started forward.

Bang! A gunshot cracked through the forest, followed a heartbeat later by a heavy thump. A two-meter wolf with steel spikes jutting along its spine—a steel-spine wolf—collapsed in a heap, a small, neat hole piercing straight through its skull.

Hundreds of yards away, Tian Li lowered her rifle. "It's convenient," she admitted, "but I feel like I'll become too reliant on it and lose all sense of danger…"

"You shouldn't," Jin Shu replied. "You just need more training. We only taught you how to handle the gun, not how to actually fight with it."

"Even so, I'd miss out on mastering my techniques. I'd fall behind others."

"Hmm…"

She wasn't wrong. In the short term, the weapons he forged might make her stronger. But over time? They could leave her weaker. He could keep upgrading her weapons, sure—but who knew if he'd always be around to do so?

"Alright, you're right," he conceded. "Don't force yourself to use it if you're uncomfortable. But I'd still like to train you all on how to wield them properly. From there, you can decide for yourselves."

The three women nodded. Biyu and Tian Li stowed their rifles, but Li Xue kept her Vector close, hugging it like a cherished treasure.

"I love this thing," she said, wearing a bright smile. "I don't care about mastering techniques. Doesn't matter—if I swing a sword fast enough, I'll hit something eventually. With this, I don't even have to swing—just pull the trigger."

Jin Shu wasn't sure how sound her reasoning was, but it was good to know someone would put his creations to real use.

"Anyway, it's their turn now," he said, glancing toward the silver tiger and golden bird darting through the trees.

They had been taking turns testing their weapons against live targets. With each of the three having gone, it was Yin'er and Ji Ji's turn. After that, it would be his turn—to finally figure out how to complete his technique.

"Yin'er, Ji Ji! Next one's yours," he called out.

Two pairs of eyes lit up instantly, and he knew the moment he saw them gleam that this was probably his worst idea yet. But it had to happen.

Yin'er's nose twitched. "There!" she shouted, spinning on her heel.

Jin Shu followed her gaze and caught sight of another steel-spine wolf slipping through the trees in the distance. Even with his cultivation-heightened vision, the dense forest made it hard to spot. The beast was well hidden—at least from him.

This one was larger than the qi realm wolf Tian Li had killed moments ago. Its size and aura suggested that it was likely a core realm wolf, just like himself… and like Yin'er and Ji Ji. He didn't even have time to warn them—

They launched off the ground, silver and gold blurring into beams of light, streaking across the forest in perfect unison. A heartbeat later, they flashed past the wolf's neck—gold below, silver above.

Thump! The severed head crashed to the forest floor, a geyser of blood spraying the trees, dying them red, as the body collapsed with a heavy slam.

Jin Shu blinked. He knew Yin'er and Ji Ji were strong—possibly stronger than him—but seeing them dispatch a core-realm steel-spine wolf in a single breath still left him stunned.

His brow twitched as the two landed atop the corpse, prancing in the fresh blood, celebrating with a victory dance before tearing into raw flesh like wild animals.

Sighing, he trudged toward them. He'd told them countless times not to eat raw meat. Of course, the two troublemakers never listened.