Freedom smelled like pine needles and fresh snow.

Yun Che emerged from the hidden tunnel behind a waterfall, the dungeon's secret exit that the fat guard had been all too eager to reveal. The Profound Handle's fortress loomed behind him, its black spires piercing the grey sky. He allowed himself one look back.

One day, he would burn those spires to the ground.

But first, he needed to heal. The Body Refining Elixir required three ingredients, and he knew where to find the first: Profound Gathering Grass grew wild in the Whispering Forest, a dangerous stretch of wilderness two days' travel to the east. The forest earned its name from the strange wind that howled between its ancient trees — a sound that some said was the voices of spirits, and others said was simply the wind. Both were wrong.

It was the sound of Profound Beasts hunting.

Yun Che walked for three hours before his body gave out. The burst of strength that had let him overpower two guards was a gift from the Pearl, but it came at a cost — his shattered meridians screamed with every step, and his vision swam with dark spots. He collapsed against an old oak tree, breathing in ragged gasps.

"The Pearl's energy is limited," he muttered to himself. "I can only draw on it for about five minutes before my body shuts down. After that, I'm as helpless as a child."

It was worse than he had thought. The Sky Poison Pearl could regenerate spiritual energy over time, but without functioning meridians, Yun Che had no way to channel that energy. He was like a man dying of thirst with an ocean locked behind indestructible glass.

He needed the Elixir. And he needed it before the Profound Handle realized their prisoner had escaped and sent hunting parties after him.

The sun was setting. In the distance, the Whispering Forest began to howl.