"The thing is, I can kill the toad in one day, but the preparations are going to take a bit more time, so a week at most."
"A week is still an incredibly short time for someone at your cultivation level. It is peculiar how you bipedal creatures find ways to adapt. Yet, if you disappoint me…"
The tiger didn't need to finish his words. It wanted to see a show, and a show I'll show it.
But for now, I need time.
I headed out of the toad's range and back into the forest, there was a small clearing that didn't seem to have any creatures roaming nearby.
I took a deep breath and began mimicking the tiger's footwork.
The Heavenly Dark Tiger called it, the Traceless steps, and indeed, it is quite traceless. It's affecting the laws of the world with every move. It is actually abusing the law of every action has an equal reaction. The fact that I'm moving should apply pressure even wind pressure on where I'll be, but the traceless steps work in a way that the very action I take are to be neutralized and no reaction happens because of them. Making every step, soundless and without a feel.
I moved and moved around the clearing, trying to step next to the grass that was growing, making sure that y steps didn't cause it to move.
But it was not easy, though I tried to increase my focus using my Mind's Eye, I still was not fully able to calculate the required counterforce to apply for every move of my body. And this was me moving slowly step by step, while the Heavenly Tiger was sprinting fully and dodging trees and branches without making any of them even tremble.
It took me three full days of trial and failure before I made my first successful step. In it, I managed to step into a pile of rising grass without any of them even moving a bit.
"Yes!" I said hyped at my success.
"You're doing it wrong, you're focusing on your feet but forgetting the rest of your body," I heard.
Looking up, the tiger was laying lazily on top of a massive tree branch.
Frankly speaking, it's absurd to realize that the tiger was probably here for days and I didn't notice him until he spoke.
"Not only your feet, your clothes, their scent, your hair, your upper body, your motions, and even emotions, they must all be tuned in with the nature around you, if you truly wish to improve, your only option is to try and walk underwater without causing a current. Not even a slight one. Once you're able to sprint underwater without causing currents, then you can say that you learned the first part of the Traceless Steps," the tiger spoke while its tails swayed left to right.
I thought for a moment and realized he was right. I'm unable to fully suppress the 'air' around me to move and take back its original place unperturbed. Since I cannot fully see it, but if it's water, I's denser and more tangible.
"Right, I'll be back," I said and spoke, "Automaton, open a gate."
The tiger looked with intrigue at the gate that opened up it revealed a large swath of land inside that was linked to four different biomes.
"What an interesting pocket dimension you own,"
"You want to visit? You're more than welcome," I said.
The tiger jumped down, its inquisitive and curious nature took the better of him.
"Just don't kill anyone inside, there are a few creatures that live here of which I promised sanctum."
"Do I look like some mass-murdering monster to you?"
"…"
"I retract my question, anyway I won't kill anything, I just wish to see," it said.
The tiger stepped inside and was surprised at the size of the inside of the Lord of Lord's pagoda.
"What an interesting world. It feels slightly limited but this whole area is fertile, another area is on fire, another is full of water and another is an icy region. Do you use this place to train?" the tiger said.
"I was using this place as a refuge for my people," I said.
"I don't sense any of them though, it feels as if a whole city was placed here, but now it's gone…"
"Yeah, I had to move the city back, I actually haven't visited in a while, I have two children and a granddaughter that I haven't seen for a long time now."
"Hmm," the tiger turned to the west and growled, "A measly weakling like this dares mark its territory? You think you're a predator?!" the tiger spoke.
I immediately realized who he was talking about.
"Hey, don't scare him, he's just a kitten compared to you," I berated the tiger. "Come here," I said.
Soon, from the west, bulldozing trudges of a giant could be heard, step after step, the Armored Lion King appeared in front of us.
'Holy hell, how the heck did it grow to this size!'
Literally, the lion was the size of a small mountain, what the hell do you eat to grow this big?!
"Even with that size…" I said as I looked at the pitiful expressions and the droopy ears of the Purple Armored Lion when it saw the Heavenly Dark Tiger.
The difference in bloodline, cultivation level, and even Existence is so great that the Purple Armored Lion knew even with its massive size, it wouldn't survive a single paw swing from the Heavenly Dark Tiger.
"hmm, I think I have a good idea on how I can use you, anyway, there is another of my protegee here, she's a pixie that lives in the seas to the south, I'll be heading there to train. As for you guys, play nice."
I said to the two and knew fully well that if they decide to not play nice, I'll be at a loss.
I headed to the sea and dove down inside.
It didn't take long before the pixie that used to live here come over.
"Lord, you have returned," she said.
"Hey, oh, your complexion looks much better than the last time I saw you," I said and it was true, her hair had grown to be several dozen meters long, and it looked like a silk curtain under the seawater. While the rest of her body was that of a mermaid.
"Yes, the food and the rich Qi environment is to be envied. If only more of my people knew of such a place."
"It must have been boring," I said.
"Not much, the Lion kept me company, as for the rest of my time I spent it cultivating or hunting small sea creatures." She said smiling, but I could still feel that the lack of interaction with people of her own race weighed on her. At one point, she is happy she is no longer being hunted, but at the same time, she is probably feeling like a caged bird.
"I'll see what I can do to fix this. Anyway, I'll be training for a bit here,"
"I'll make sure not to disturb," she said and soon bolted under the water.
Surprisingly, her moving under the water didn't seem to cause a lot of the water current to move. Though a bit of it did…
'Attuned with nature huh, well guess I'll have to figure that out in less than three days…'
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