Chapter 50: This Young Master Is Small

Chapter 50: This Young Master Is Small

Lil Float.

The sloth ignored him.

Slakoth.

It coughed.

Karn.

The sloth hacked and threw up.

That name was pretty disgusting, sorry.

Chen Haoran sighed as the sloth disregarded his attempts to name it and floated away once again. He was stuck facing a philosophical reality. What was a pet? How did an animal become a pet? He couldnt just buy the sloth, nor could he just adopt it and claim it. Was a sloth, much less a cultivating one, even something he could domesticate? Did he have to domesticate it for it to become a pet?

Chen Haoran stewed over these questions as he once more submerged himself in a pool and cultivated. Or rather, gave the appearance that he was cultivating. His distraction hindered any real progress and he instead silently counted down. With warning from his sense he braced himself for the sloth dropping back down into the pool with a loud splash.

No matter how many times he annoyed it into floating off the sloth always dropped down into whatever pool he was occupying. It was an annoying habit but one that hed tolerate in order to have more opportunities to win it over. Besides, it was at least polite enough to wait for him to finish cultivating before soaking him.

He ripped off a piece of moss and handed it over to the sloth. Its glowing blue tongue tickled his hand as it ate. It squealed at him, its previous annoyance long forgotten, then proceeded to paddle around the pool.

He froze. Cold?

Chen Haoran did not move and cycled his qi. He felt a small chill on the back of his neck. The chill grew till he could feel it with his back. He looked down at his steam-covered legs. It undulated around him as it always did but the pattern of it was clear.

It was flowing away from him.

Chen Haoran whirled around and the first blast of steam hit him in the face. It was rushing now, a wall of steam that was growing ever denser and hotter. The sheer heat burned his skin and overwhelmed the protection provided by his qi. He cursed and quickly jumped into a pool and dove deep. Above him, the water roiled and the blue light of the cavern shone brighter before the water unnaturally stilled and the light became filtered.

Chen Haoran waited till his lungs burned before swimming up. He flexed his qi and broke past the ice covering the pool and entered a new world.

What the fuck?

His first thought was that it was cold. It shocked the heat from him and gooseflesh pimpled across his arms. Every mouthful of air was followed by a misty cloud. The pools around him were frozen with only the hottest still bubbling away. Frost covered the rocks and the glowing moss looked practically crystallized, their light dull.

His second thought was that he could see. The steam was gone, it had risen to the roof of the cave in an endless sea of clouds. What it revealed was a dark landscape of rocks and frozen pools that stretched farther than the eye could see. With frozen moss below and covered moss above the cavern was terrifyingly dim. Ahead of him was an outcropping of rock that stood rose high above the ground. With teeth chattering Chen Haoran rushed for it, cycling his qi so that he could dig his fingers into the icy stone and climb up. At its highest point, he stared wide-eyed back from where he came then to the endless expanse ahead. Instead of pools he saw lakes, both boiling and frozen, stalactites the size of towers hung from the ceilings and equally large stalagmites rose from below to meet them. Skyscraper-sized columns of stone separated the roof and cavern floor.

Chen Haoran shivered, whether from cold or from fear he did not know. This place was far bigger than he could have ever imagined. Blue lightning flashed from the clouds and shattered a stalagmite. The echoing thunder hammered in his chest. Chen Haoran slowly climbed down under flashing blue clouds, mindful of the target he made. The thunder that beat down on him threatened his grip far more than the ice did.

Im a cultivator, what the fuck am I doing? He steeled his resolve and jumped down rather than continue making a fool of himself. He landed heavily on the ground, qi absorbing the shock. Chen Haoran shook out his knees more out of instinct than need. He didnt need to fear a fall like that. He had power now.

The clouds rumbled and rain fell down in heavy sheets. It pounded on his head and shoulders and Chen Haoran bent under the force. Rain and thunder filled the cavern in one long, unceasing roar. Hunched over and cowed he slowly made his way back to his shelter.

What was a cultivator in the face of nature?