[Last Emperor] Chapter 32 - Dangerous Encounters

Tao Zi cringed as he stepped on another branch. The forest seemed silent, as though everything was trying to be as quiet as possible. It was a strange feeling he had not felt before. You hear the birds sing, the insects scuttle about under the forest brush, and small animals squeaking and fighting amongst each other, but it wasn't right. It all sounded fake. Almost as if he was in a theater play with actors and century old acoustic machines attempting to mimic real life sounds and real life forest noise.

He couldn't be fooled, there were no chimps, no orcs, not even a HellHound to haunt his dreams. Tao Zi hadn’t encountered a single monster the entire time he was out here. As strange as that was. 

The only time he was actually looking for a fight and he seemed to be incapable of finding any alone. There weren’t any monsters around for Tao Zi to challenge himself and test his boundaries. They seem to have all disappeared. Hiding or unwilling to face off of him. He wasn't sure if it was because of his new rank in cultivation or because of the feeling that was in his chest. 

Were they also experiencing the dread he was going through? Could monsters even feel fear?

He distinctly recall the chimps being terrified of him. That look in its eyes and the way it had crawled back could only possibly mean one thing. Terror. Then he remembered the massive, three way, battle the chimp army had with the HellHound and the orcs. 

On the other hand, there was Zarfu and his bodybuilding buddies. They seemed almost insanely addicted to the thrill of fighting the whole forest and anything they could get close to even though they knew they were outmatched. Rather enjoying the thrill of being closer to death. 

Tao Zi was taking a roundabout path. 

He expected other more powerful monsters to be hunting the remnants of the chimps and feasting upon them. While he was searching for a fight, Tao Zi was not trying to be outnumbered and outgunned by whatever he fought. The power hadn’t gotten to his head yet, maybe one day in the future when he was erasing entire mountains with a wave of his hand.

Not now though. Getting jumped was not part of the plan.

He pushed a few miles further than any other time before this. The further he went the more natural forest noise he heard. Tao Zi had to wonder if there was something that surrounded his cave specifically. He shook his head. Thinking about something he couldn’t potentially figure out any time soon in the middle of the forest was not a smart thing to do. He refocused on his task and kept himself prepared for anything around him.

Eventually he started hearing other animals. Larger ones out and about. Though he could not find them when he made his way to approach. 

It took more time than he was comfortable with until he finally found himself a target. 

Tao Zi hid in the bushes that surrounded a large clearing. Staring directly into it and taking a moment to marvel at the green vibrant grass that covered the ground. The odd flower poking through the tufts of greenery, standing in odd contrast to the dull, dreary blackness of the forest he had been stuck in for so long.

It was the only area he could see that was green. The other side was just as dark and dead as the side he was on currently. 

Tao Zi watched as the target he found shifted its gigantic head. A gargantuan moose chomp away at the green grass. Munching like nothing in the world could bother it. He hoped to prove it wrong in a few moments if he could. Though he had to be very careful. The thing had large red antlers adorned its head. They were sharpened into edges like blood red spikes made for goring and killing soft tissue, smaller creatures about his size.

 It leaked foam out of his mouth but otherwise seemed fully healthy.

Every time it shifted massive pieces of muscle glisten in the sunlight. He's already salivating. He could imagine how much meat he would have after butchering it. It would have been an issue to get back to the cave had he not been blessed to keep his spacial ring pocket. The sect had taken much from him, but at least they left him with something as valuable as that. Though it was more likely they had just been in a hurry to throw him into the rift before the portal closed. 

He gulped. 

Something that large should be able to feed him and Su Da for a year at minimum by itself, or so he hoped. He was unfamiliar with how much a normal person could potentially eat per day or whether that was affected by them being cultivators. 

Did they need to eat more to sustain themselves or was it a question of Qi doing the same job as food and provided them with all the nutrients they needed? Did his cultivation technique affect it? He felt a lot hungrier every day after he started circulating the Azure Flames of the Dragon Ancestor. More so when he actively used the Qi. 

He let the system analyze the beast. 

System Analysis - 

Red-Blooded Moose

Qi Cultivation Journeyman Stage 1

Body Tempering Mortal Stage 5

Warning -

This is no pushover, even if you have a higher body cultivation. 

Tao Zi took a moment to consider how he would tackle this new enemy. He did not want to burn the thing until it was inedible. Burnt black by his Dragonic fire. It had already proven it was too chaotic and far too fierce for a normal battle. Especially if he was going to use it as freely as he did practicing. 

He eventually recognized that he could only use part of his strengths and advantages compared to what he would usually do in most battles. That was if he wanted to maximize the amount of meat he would be getting overall. He needed to take full profit off of the large thing to save himself future headaches and delay the need to hunt anything again. 

Not wanting to be out in the forest with the dread creeping up his spine the entire time was a sound tactic. 

Tao Zi pulled out a mortal level sword. He considered using his personal blade, but it had already taken enough damage. The thing was a sentimental piece he did not want to risk snapping or melting because of his dragonic flames. He got low and took a deep inhalation, charging headlong towards the moose as he exhaled. Moving faster than he had ever pushed himself before. 

Already a quarter of the way there before—

Said target was supposed to startle, jump, or even make an attempt to run and escape like all herbivores did when something shot out of the bushes around them. The moose did none of that. Rather it snapped its head towards him without much haste.

It lowered its head, flexed its body and charged him instead.

Tao Zi stopped his tracks. He lunged to the left at the unexpected action. Barely missing being impaled by gigantic antlers that crossed the distance faster than he expected. The moose’s larger strides made its charge much faster than his to meet in the middle. 

It slid to a stop and turned to face him. Bleating out as loudly as it possibly could, stomping on the ground with its front hooves, and its hind legs kicking out. That was a clear challenge to Tao Zi, demanding him to stand up and charge it again. Daring him to face off with it if he had the gonads to do it. 

Fuck! My plans go to shit quicker than I can think them, lately. I'm going to need to use my flames more freely. 

This was not the most ideal situation for him. Not when he had to fight the thing head on rather than his usual tactics. Fighting something less aggressive and dangerous would have been more optimal as his first challenge in the Journeyman Stage. Alas, he was not destined for an easy time here.

I can’t have something this aggressive attacking me while I'm trying to hold back. I’m going to die like that. Fuck. So much meat is going to go to waste.

Tao Zi was upset at the lack of quick choice he had, but at least he was going to get a chance to use his dragonic fire as freely and as wildly as he wanted. He never got a good look at what it had done to the chimps he blasted during his rescue of Su Da. He only heard their screams of suffering as he ran away. 

Qi in his core shifted. Bright blue flames roared to life like a mini engine and covered his already warping blade and his hands. They did not affect him like they did anything else he channeled them with. 

His foe bleated once more. Taking the challenge for what it was. Vines shot out of the ground and coiled around the moose like springs. It stomped the ground with a hoof in preparation for another charge. 

Tao Zi did the same and prepared himself. His muscles tensed, everything seemed slow around him, he could feel his heartbeat and the way his clothes shifted on his skin. It was a sense of focus he had never felt before. This battle was going to be a long one and he doubted the moose would out endurance him. Especially, while it was currently in the Body Tempering Initiate Stage still while he was a Journeyman.

He readied himself for another charge, this time trying to dodge but also attack in a sequence of events he prepared  in his mind. Another plan with a counter if it all went wrong. He took his first step—

Something shifted in the sky. He looked up as something approached. The Moose began its charge, unable to sense what he was sensing. The fear that crawled up his spine and ate at his chest. 

Tao Zi heard a snapping sound, he did not hesitate to lunge away from clearing and jumping into the trees and bushes for cover. Wind rushed into the clearing. The sound deafened him, stone, leaves, and branches smacked into him as they were blasted away from the area. 

He looked back when the wind died out and watched as the moose stood back up from being thrown to the ground. It searched for whatever assaulted it.

A blur slammed into the area, crashing into moose, pinning it to the ground. He watched as something even larger than his prey snapped it back and deformed its spine. Massive claws tore the things apart as they curled around it. Decapitating it in the process and cutting it into pieces. The Moose was dead within seconds of the shadow appearing. 

Tao Zi’s gaze rose up as he got a good look at what interrupted their standoff.  Staring directly into the eyes of a western dragon. Four arms, lizard monster with huge wings on his back, green scales that glistened in the sunlight and seemed strong enough to take on a tankshell. 

It stared back.

He was dumbstruck as large, wide, and primal eyes looked into his. Tao Zi could not move. 

A rumble escaped from deep in its chest. A diesel engine that was being revved roared to life as smoke billowed out of the corners of its mouth and nostrils. Flames dripping from its mouth like liquid lava. It was a clear and distinct warning that he understood with every ounce of his being. The moose was its prey now. It's food to hunt. 

Tao Zi was not about to challenge its dominion over the area. 

He crawled back without shifting or making any sudden movements. It let him move away. He was so small, he was an insect to it. Not worth the hassle of killing him nor was he worth the inconvenience it would take to leave its massive prey to hunt him.

A tiny morsel without enough meat on his body to satiate it for a second. Nor was he enough to put under its teeth.

Tao Zi took the chance he was afforded. He turned and ran with every ounce of power his legs could take him with. He was not about to wait and see what the fucking dragon was about to do or react. He did not care about the moose or any source of meat at that moment. 

The only thing in his mind was heading back to the cave as fast as he could possibly go. The feeling in his chest had proven itself true. Something had been out there and now he finally had a chance to see what that something was. He did not like what he saw in real life. 

A literal dragon. A mythical creature that his entire cultivation was based on. He already saw the effects that mere essence of dragonic flames had on his fire. He couldn't imagine what the real deal would look like nor was he going to attempt to find out anytime soon. 

The system pinged him with a notification.

He ignored it as he pushed his body further than any time before this. The forest flew by him as he hurtled his body like a missile through it to get to the cave before the dragon figured it could hunt him too before anything could get at the moose. Tao Zi could figure out the system and its notifications some other time. 

Ideally in the cave where he didn’t need to worry about something that powerful trying to eat him.