ARK SPIRIT

By late afternoon, when the dark red sun hung low over the edge of the valley, Trieu Phong finally lowered his hand.

“That is enough for today.”

The eight of them returned to the center of the training formation, every one of them covered in dust and sand.

Lam Phong dropped heavily onto the ground, breathing hard beside Tieu Van, whose back was already soaked through with sweat. Luu Hoa’s face was flushed from repeatedly controlling his Fire affinity spiritual power without releasing it freely, while Lam Tuyet remained standing despite breathing noticeably faster than usual.

Quan Nha brushed the dust from her sleeves. Her expression had not changed, but Hao Nhien noticed that she had already drawn her Charm affinity deeply inward. Constantly maintaining her senses in the wind and sand had clearly not been comfortable for her either.

Only then did Tieu Lan walk over. She handed out mild qi restoring medicine and prepared medicinal water to everyone.

“Drink some. They are not strong medicines, but they will help restore some energy and ease the dryness in your throat.”

Luu Hoa took a drink and immediately raised his brows.

“That really does feel better.”

Tieu Van exhaled in relief after drinking his portion.

“Miss Tieu Lan, from now on you may be the most important person in this squad.”

Lam Phong nodded with complete seriousness.

“I agree.”

Tieu Lan lowered her head slightly. Her ears reddened, but her hands remained steady as she continued distributing the medicine.

Trieu Phong received his portion last. After drinking, he looked at her.

“Tomorrow, you will not only hand out medicine. I will simulate injuries during formation movement, and you will practice reaching the wounded without breaking our formation.”

Tieu Lan nodded.

“All right.”

Trieu Phong turned toward Hao Nhien.

“As for you, tomorrow you will play the attacker. Use your speed to force the squad to react. Do not go too easy on us.”

Tieu Van immediately looked up.

“Wait. The deputy is attacking us?”

Lam Phong gave a wry smile.

“Suddenly, tomorrow does not sound very pleasant.”

Luu Hoa looked toward Hao Nhien, his eyes brightening instead.

“That works. If we can react to the deputy’s speed, at least we will not die immediately when we meet a real enemy.”

Quan Nha spoke in her usual cool tone.

“That assumes you can actually react.”

Tieu Van placed a hand over his chest.

“Miss Quan Nha, could you say that a little more gently?”

Quan Nha looked at him.

“No.”

Tieu Van sighed, and Hao Nhien could not help laughing. The sound was quickly scattered by the evening wind.

His gaze passed over the faces around him. They were exhausted, inexperienced, and still far from strong enough, yet something had finally begun to take shape.

A squad.

Not because they had given themselves a name, but because after a full day of being ground down by sand, terrain, and one another’s movement, they had begun to understand that no one could survive the Western Wastes by relying only on themselves.

The first three days of training passed faster than Hao Nhien expected, though none of them were easy.

The Wind and Cloud Squad was hammered by dust, formation drills, and Trieu Phong’s cold commands until everyone felt as if they had shed a layer of skin.

The first lesson was simple. Coordination meant survival.

Hao Nhien and Quan Nha, who often moved near the front, had to learn to slow down. Lam Phong and Trieu Phong needed to remain close enough to establish a defensive line at a moment’s notice. Luu Hoa and Lam Tuyet were not allowed to release techniques before receiving a signal, while Tieu Van had to break the habit of watching the battlefield ahead for too long, because attacks often came from behind.

The second lesson was that fewer words meant a better chance of survival.

A clenched fist meant regroup. A raised hand meant prepare for a coordinated attack. A wave to the left meant change formation, while a strike against the chest signaled the need for assistance.

Every signal had to be clear and fast, without shouting. In the winds of the Western Wastes, voices could be swallowed by the sand, but they could also reveal a squad’s location to whatever might be listening.

The third lesson was that Tieu Lan was not a burden.

During three days of simulations, she repeatedly treated her “injured” companions for poison, blood loss, suffocation, and disrupted spiritual power. Luu Hoa was the first to jokingly call her the “Little Medicine Immortal.” Tieu Van immediately joined in, and even Lam Phong laughed along.

Tieu Lan blushed but did not argue.

Hao Nhien saw her lower her head to inspect her medicine pouch, her fingers tightening around it for a moment. She was trying to stand firmly within her own role, and seeing that eased much of his concern.

By the afternoon of the third day, Trieu Phong had recorded a simple profile of each member in the squad’s jade slip.

Eight people.

Not complete.

Not especially strong.

But they were beginning to resemble a real squad.

That afternoon, beneath the shadow of a massive boulder in the western valley, Trieu Phong put away the jade slip and looked over the group.

“Three days ago, we were eight strangers. Now we are at least a barely usable squad.”

Tieu Van immediately raised an eyebrow.

“Barely usable?”

Trieu Phong looked at him.

“Would you prefer I call us powerful?”

Tieu Van coughed.

“Never mind. Barely usable is fine.”

Luu Hoa stood nearby, squeezing a tiny flame between his fingers.

“I want real combat. Fire that never burns anything eventually becomes dead fire.”

Quan Nha stood in the shade of the boulder.

“I need real combat as well. Simulations are not enough for me to control the Charm Eyes properly.”

Tieu Lan looked around at everyone. She did not make a grand speech. Instead, she simply raised one small fist.

“Wind and Cloud Squad.”

Tieu Van immediately laughed and sprang to his feet.

“Wind and Cloud Squad!”

Lam Phong struck the butt of his weapon against the ground.

“Wind and Cloud Squad!”

Luu Hoa, Lam Tuyet, Trieu Phong, and Quan Nha raised their hands one after another.

Hao Nhien looked at the seven people before him. Amid the hot wind of the Western Wastes, he slowly raised his fist as well.

“Wind and Cloud Squad.”

Their voices were not particularly loud, but they were enough to stir the dust around them.

The next morning, just as the sun rose over the horizon, the Wind and Cloud Squad stood outside the command tent.

Leng Huyen stepped out, his desert cloak snapping behind him. A layer of yellow dust still clung to his shoulder armor as his narrow eyes examined the eight people before him.

“You want actual combat?”

Trieu Phong cupped his hands.

“We ask for permission, Company Commander.”

Leng Huyen did not answer immediately. His gaze moved from Hao Nhien to Tieu Lan before settling on their rather thin formation.

“You have improved quickly, but you are still far too inexperienced. Outside the city there are not only demonic beasts. There are poisonous winds, quicksand, heat storms, false oases, venomous insects beneath the sand, and even enemy scouts.”

His voice remained cold.

“In the Western Wastes, what kills most newcomers is not a blade. It is believing they are ready.”

No one argued.

Trieu Phong remained composed.

“We are not asking to go to the front line. We only want to patrol east of the city gate, familiarize ourselves with the desert and its beasts, and practice maintaining formation outside a training array.”

“We will not go far, we will not seek unnecessary fights, and if we encounter danger beyond our ability, we will retreat.”

Leng Huyen studied him for a while before giving a quiet snort.

“At least you sound like someone who might survive more than a few days.”

Trieu Phong’s expression did not change.

“Thank you for the compliment, Company Commander.”

Behind him, Tieu Van nearly laughed, only to receive a discreet elbow from Lam Phong.

Leng Huyen took out a map jade slip and tossed it to Trieu Phong.

“East of the city gate. There are three places you need to watch.”

“The first is a crescent shaped quicksand zone. The surface looks flat, but there are hollow layers beneath the sand. Anyone heavy enough to break through will be dragged under very quickly.”

“The second is a pair of small oases. The water you see there may not actually be water. Some demonic beasts use spiritual qi to imitate it and lure prey closer.”

“The third is a black rock region about half a day from the city. Sand Scorpion Demons are common there.”

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Hao Nhien raised his head.

“Sand Scorpion Demons?”

Leng Huyen nodded.

“Mostly second rank desert demonic beasts. Hard shells, oversized pincers, venomous tails. The dangerous part is not one of them, but the entire swarm, especially at night.”

He waved a hand.

“Go. Before sunset, if you are not certain you can establish a safe camp, return immediately.”

The eight answered together.

“Understood!”

The eastern gate of Third City opened amid the low hum of moving spiritual patterns.

Beyond the walls, the Western Wastes stretched endlessly into the distance.

The golden sand beneath the morning sun looked nothing like it had from inside the city. Up close, it was blinding and dry, every grain seeming to hold heat waiting to rise. The wind carried no scent of plants, only scorched earth, old metal, and a faint trace of something metallic and raw, like blood that had dried long ago.

The Wind and Cloud Squad stepped beyond the gate and immediately spread into formation.

Hao Nhien took the lead but kept his pace slow. Quan Nha remained half a step behind and to one side, her gaze sweeping across the distant waves of sand. Lam Phong and Trieu Phong held the central axis, with Luu Hoa and Lam Tuyet covering the flanks. Tieu Van stayed at the rear with his twin sabers in hand, while Tieu Lan remained in the center, surrounded by the others, her medicine pouch and water bag secured tightly at her side.

They had not been traveling for even one canh before Hao Nhien understood why Leng Huyen had said the desert itself was an enemy.

The sun climbed higher. The soft sand made every step more exhausting than walking on the stone roads inside the city. Hot wind blew constantly, throwing fine grains against their faces. They had to maintain protective spiritual power almost continuously to resist the heat, dust, and the faint traces of poison mixed into the air.

Luu Hoa had been enthusiastic at first, but by the middle of the morning he had grown much quieter. His Fire affinity helped him endure the heat, yet it also made his spiritual power more easily stirred by the surrounding temperature, increasing his consumption more than expected.

Lam Tuyet occasionally condensed a thin layer of moisture to cool the area around the squad. Each time she did, however, her face grew a little paler.

Trieu Phong immediately reminded her,

“Conserve your strength.”

Lam Tuyet nodded and withdrew the moisture.

The farther they traveled, the more Hao Nhien realized that nowhere in the desert was truly flat. Identical ripples of sand stretched toward the horizon, yet beneath any one of them could lie stone, hollow ground, quicksand, or something waiting silently below.

He lowered his voice.

“Change our walking rhythm.”

Trieu Phong looked at him.

Hao Nhien explained,

“If Sand Scorpion Demons sense vibrations, we should not maintain the same rhythm for too long.”

Something shifted in Trieu Phong’s eyes.

“That makes sense.”

He immediately signaled the others.

The squad began changing its pace. Three slower steps, one lighter step, a pause for half a breath, then forward again.

Their speed dropped, but the vibrations traveling through the sand became less predictable.

Near midday, they found the first sign of a demonic beast.

Half of a dried skeleton lay buried in the sand. Its ribs had been crushed, and two large pincer marks had left the edges of the bone stained dark purple.

Tieu Lan crouched down without touching it directly. She used a wooden stick to lift part of the darkened bone.

“There is poison.”

Her voice was quiet.

“It has seeped deep into the bone. If this was caused by a Sand Scorpion Demon, the venom is not weak.”

Lam Phong looked around, tightening his grip on the strap of his shield.

“The corpse is here. Where is the swarm?”

No one answered.

Hot wind swept past.

Sand gradually covered the exposed bones again, as though trying to drag them back beneath the surface.

Trieu Phong immediately signaled for them to leave.

The squad continued forward.

According to the map, a small oasis lay about half a day away. But when they arrived, what they saw silenced everyone.

The oasis had dried up.

Several low, twisted trees leaned crookedly across the sand. In the hollow at the center, only a patch of cracked black mud remained, releasing a foul smell. Around it were disordered footprints, drag marks, and several dried streaks of blood.

Tieu Van spoke quietly.

“Another group came here before us?”

Hao Nhien crouched down and touched the bloodstain on the sand. It was dry, but not old.

“Less than a day.”

Quan Nha looked toward the edge of the oasis.

“There was fighting here.”

Lam Phong asked,

“Were the demonic beasts already cleared out?”

Trieu Phong did not answer immediately. He placed one hand against the sand and remained there for several breaths before frowning.

“No clear movement.”

Tieu Van exhaled.

“So we arrived too late?”

Luu Hoa nudged a black fragment of shell with his foot.

“We walked half the day only to find the remains of someone else’s fight.”

Hao Nhien looked around, but the unease in his chest did not fade.

It was too quiet.

There was blood, bone, poisoned mud, yet no demonic beasts, no scavenging birds, not even the sound of insects. The silence did not feel safe. It felt as though something were waiting for them to lower their guard.

Trieu Phong kept his hand near the sand for another moment before rising.

“Leave. We are not camping at the oasis.”

No one objected.

The squad continued for more than another canh, avoiding the crescent shaped quicksand area marked on the map before finally stopping at a low stretch of black rock.

Several dark stone slabs protruded from the sand, enough to support a small temporary camp while reducing the danger of attacks from directly below.

The sun had already begun to descend westward, spreading dark red light across the desert and stretching the eight shadows into long, distorted shapes.

Trieu Phong inspected the ground before nodding.

“Temporary camp.”

Everyone began moving immediately. After three days of training, no one stopped to ask why.

Tieu Lan took out several small medicine bottles and arranged them on a clean cloth. Hao Nhien noticed the new markings she had carved onto each one: bleeding, poison, qi recovery, calm mind.

Not far away, Luu Hoa used a tiny flame to cook medicinal porridge. He suppressed it until the fire was no larger than a fist, producing little light and almost no visible flare.

Tieu Van complained while eating,

“I thought our first day outside the city would be more impressive.”

“Instead, we spent the whole day eating sand.”

Lam Phong glanced at him.

“You want demonic beasts to actually show up?”

Tieu Van was about to answer when Trieu Phong suddenly raised a clenched fist.

Everyone fell silent.

The wind continued to blow, and sand drifted across the rocks.

Trieu Phong slowly crouched and placed his hand against the stone.

Hao Nhien immediately noticed the change in his expression.

“What is it?”

Trieu Phong closed his eyes.

His face darkened.

“Under the sand. Very close.”

Lam Phong slowly raised his shield.

Luu Hoa extinguished the flame.

Lam Tuyet set down her bowl.

Tieu Lan immediately pulled her medicine pouch close to her chest.

Trieu Phong suddenly opened his eyes.

“A lot of them.”

The moment he spoke, the sand less than three zhang from the camp began to bulge upward.

Hao Nhien did not wait.

“Back onto the stone!”

He pulled Tieu Lan backward as Trieu Phong struck the ground.

Earth affinity spiritual power surged downward. Thick layers of stone rose beneath the squad, connecting the scattered black rocks into a broad solid platform.

The instant the foundation formed, the surrounding sand erupted.

Black pincers like forged iron broke through the surface one after another.

One.

Ten.

Then dozens.

Their bodies were nearly three zhang long, covered in glossy black armor. Eight legs dug deep into the sand while curved tails rose like hooks overhead. Dark purple light flickered around their venomous stingers.

They did not roar.

Nor did they charge blindly.

The only sound was the dense scraping of their legs against the sand, like countless small blades grinding against bone.

Tieu Van felt his scalp tighten.

“This is supposed to be a small encounter?”

No one had time to answer.

A Sand Scorpion Demon shot forward from the left, its massive pincer snapping toward Lam Tuyet’s leg.

Lam Phong moved at once, bringing his round shield down at an angle.

The pincer slammed into the shield with a metallic crash and was forced aside.

Lam Tuyet used the opening to retreat. With a sweep of her left hand, cold qi coated the joint of the creature’s leg in a thin layer of frost.

Luu Hoa followed with a fireball.

Flames burst across the armored shell.

The Sand Scorpion rolled through the sand, its outer shell scorched black but still intact, then immediately burrowed beneath the surface.

“Do not chase!”

Trieu Phong’s command came at once.

He stamped his foot, reinforcing the stone beneath them. A moment later, three venomous tails thrust upward along the edge of the platform, only to strike the hardened stone with sharp metallic impacts.

Hao Nhien saw it clearly.

Without Trieu Phong’s defensive foundation, those stingers could easily have pierced the legs of Tieu Lan or Luu Hoa.

Trieu Phong immediately signaled for the squad to close formation.

The hand signals they had drilled for three days passed rapidly through the group. A clenched fist meant tighten formation, a wave to the left meant shift direction, and a raised hand meant prepare for a coordinated attack.

Their training was finally proving useful.

Lam Phong stepped to the edge of the platform and drove forward with his round shield, stopping another Sand Scorpion Demon from climbing onto the stone.

The huge pincer smashed down.

The shield caught it.

The impact forced Lam Phong half a step backward, his boots scraping two marks across the stone, but he remained standing.

Behind Hao Nhien, Quan Nha’s eyes darkened.

She did not fully activate her Charm Eyes. Instead, only a faint influence spread through her gaze. Three Sand Scorpions charging forward hesitated for an instant, their sense of direction disturbed just enough that they collided with one another.

“Hao Nhien.”

She only needed to say his name.

He was already moving.

Wind affinity spiritual power gathered around his feet as he swept along the edge of the stone platform, never straying far from the squad. The Tieu Dao Sword flashed into his hand.

Instead of striking the thickest section of armor, Hao Nhien cut toward the narrow joint between the head and body of the first Sand Scorpion.

Metal rang against metal.

The edge of the armor cracked.

He did not pursue the attack. He twisted away at once, avoiding a venomous tail that swept through the place where he had just stood.

Only then did Hao Nhien understand that these Sand Scorpion Demons were not mindless.

They did not chase the fastest target blindly. Instead, they pressed from the sides, constantly trying to force him farther from the stone platform and onto unstable sand.

If he became greedy for kills, his own speed would separate him from the squad.

Trieu Phong had clearly noticed the same thing.

“Do not pursue. Fight at the edge of the platform!”

Luu Hoa raised both hands.

“Then I’ll force them out.”

Two streams of flame spread along the sand on either side of the stone instead of striking the creatures directly. The surface rapidly heated, forcing several Sand Scorpions hidden beneath the sand to emerge.

Lam Tuyet reacted almost immediately.

A layer of cold moisture spread across the heated area. Heat and cold collided, releasing a cloud of white vapor that obscured part of the battlefield.

Tieu Van slipped into the mist.

His twin short sabers avoided the hard outer armor and aimed instead for the eyes, leg joints, and gaps beneath the abdomen.

One blade struck.

A Sand Scorpion shrieked and lost its balance.

Tieu Van kicked it sideways, exposing the softer underside to a burst of flame from Luu Hoa.

Tieu Lan remained at the center of the stone platform.

She did not rush around.

Her medicine pouch was already open, and her eyes constantly moved across everyone’s arms, legs, and shoulders. When a pincer scraped across Tieu Van’s shoulder, she immediately threw him a small packet of powder.

“Tieu Van, apply it now. Do not let the poison spread.”

He tore the packet open with his teeth and slapped the medicine directly onto the wound, grimacing in pain.

“That burns.”

Tieu Lan answered without hesitation.

“If you can still feel it, that is a good sign.”

Lam Phong almost laughed, but at that moment a venomous tail swept toward his back.

Hao Nhien saw it.

He activated the Spirit Wings.

A pair of translucent wings appeared behind him for only an instant, giving him a brief burst of speed. Hao Nhien reached Lam Phong in time, pulled him aside, and swung the Tieu Dao Sword toward the joint between two sections of the scorpion’s tail.

The blade did not sever it, but the impact knocked the venomous stinger off course and sent it crashing into the stone.

Hao Nhien immediately withdrew the Spirit Wings. Even such a brief use produced a noticeable drain on his spiritual power.

Lam Phong rolled once across the ground before recovering.

“Thank you.”

“Back to position.”

There was no time for more.

The swarm had begun to change its attack.

The sand around three sides of the stone platform rose almost simultaneously, forcing the formation inward.

Lam Phong braced his round shield at the front while Trieu Phong reinforced the right side with an earthen barrier. Lam Tuyet formed a water shield on the left, Luu Hoa spread a wall of flame across the most exposed approach, and Tieu Van moved along the rear with both short sabers ready.

Quan Nha drew in a slow breath.

The dark violet light beginning to gather in her eyes immediately caught Hao Nhien’s attention.

“Quan Nha.”

She paused.

The deeper trace of power in her eyes receded, leaving only the Charm Eyes active for a single breath.

That brief moment was enough.

She could not truly control the demonic beasts, but the instincts of several larger Sand Scorpions faltered. Their advance lost coordination, opening a gap in the swarm.

Trieu Phong immediately raised his hand.

Coordinated attack.

Luu Hoa released a burst of flame. Lam Tuyet followed with cold qi, while Trieu Phong used Earth affinity to restrict the ground beneath the advancing creatures.

Lam Phong smashed aside a pincer with his shield.

Tieu Van slipped through the opening, both short sabers striking toward the eyes of one of the larger Sand Scorpions.

Hao Nhien followed immediately.

This time, he did not leave the formation far behind.

Wind affinity spiritual power flowed along the Tieu Dao Sword as he drove the blade into the cracked joint that had already been exposed.

The sword pierced through.

The large Sand Scorpion collapsed.

The dense scraping of the swarm immediately became disordered.

The opportunity lasted only a moment.

Trieu Phong seized it.

“Pull back onto the higher stone!”

He poured spiritual power into the black rocks beneath them, forcing the existing stone foundation upward and creating a firmer elevated position above the surrounding sand.

The Sand Scorpions below lost their rhythm.

Some burrowed beneath the surface.

Others began retreating.

Luu Hoa looked ready to pursue, but Trieu Phong clenched his fist.

Retreat.

Luu Hoa stopped and forced the flames back under control.

A short while later, the scraping beneath the sand faded into the distance.

Dust settled again.

The desert returned to silence.

More than twenty Sand Scorpion corpses remained around the stone platform, their shells blackened by flame, legs twitching while dark purple venom seeped slowly into the sand.

The Wind and Cloud Squad stood amid the remains of their first real encounter.

For a while, no one spoke.

Tieu Van sat down heavily, blood still running from his shoulder. Lam Phong lowered his shield and breathed hard, the back of his robe torn open by a long slash. Luu Hoa’s face had gone pale from exhaustion, while Lam Tuyet’s lips were dry and cracked, her spiritual power nearly spent.

Quan Nha lowered her head with one hand pressed against her temple. Her breathing was somewhat uneven, though Hao Nhien saw no sign that she had lost control.

Trieu Phong still kept one hand against the stone, sweat running down his forehead as he continued to watch the surrounding sand.

Hao Nhien looked at everyone, then toward Tieu Lan.

She had already moved.

“Tieu Van, sit still. Lam Phong, do not move your right shoulder too much. Luu Hoa, take this Clear Heart Powder. Your fire qi is unstable. Sister Lam Tuyet, drink this cooling medicinal water.”

Her voice remained quiet, but every instruction was clear.

Everyone followed almost without thinking.

Hao Nhien watched as she crouched beside Tieu Van and began treating the wound on his shoulder. After she applied the antidote powder, the darkened blood gradually returned to a healthier red.

Tieu Van sucked in a breath through his teeth.

“Little Medicine Immortal, a little gentler…”

Tieu Lan did not look up.

“If it hurts, that means you can still feel it.”

Tieu Van had no answer.

Lam Phong laughed, then immediately grimaced when the movement pulled at his own wound.

The tension after the battle finally eased.

Hao Nhien turned his attention back toward the desert beyond the stone platform and resumed watching the surrounding sand.

The battle was over.

But Leng Huyen had been right.

The desert never slept.