Chapter 201: The Alchemist
Damon lowered his gaze from the horizon and made his choice.
Alena Terra was closest, and she was alone.
The alchemist had no combat backing, no sect protection inside this realm, and her cultivation, while respectable, was not enough to guarantee her safety against whatever lurked in the deeper parts of the Azure Dragon Realm.
He would reach her first.
Damon drew a slow breath and activated Astral Steps.
The technique answered instantly.
His body lightened, the weight of flesh and bone becoming something closer to thought than matter.
The world around him blurred, edges softening into streaks of color as he launched forward.
The desert floor rushed beneath him in a continuous, shifting ribbon of sand and stone.
He moved faster than any cultivator at his apparent realm had any right to move, faster than most at his true realm could manage.
The wind screamed past his ears, a constant, high-pitched howl that would have deafened a lesser man.
But Damon’s senses remained sharp, his Incubus Celestial Eyes fixed on the northern thread of earth and nature qi that pulsed steadily ahead.
The desert gave way to scrubland, sparse patches of hardy vegetation dotting the cracked earth.
Then the scrubland thickened, the patches merging into clusters of gnarled trees with bark the color of rust.
The clusters became groves, the groves became a forest.
Damon slowed his pace as the terrain shifted, the density of the trees forcing him to weave between trunks and duck under low-hanging branches.
The forest was ancient, the kind of old growth that had never known an axe or a fire.
The canopy above was so thick that the light filtering through was a dim, green-tinged twilight, the air cool and damp with the smell of wet earth and decaying leaves.
Moss clung to every surface, draping over rocks and climbing up tree trunks in thick, velvet blankets.
Fungi of every shape and color sprouted from rotting logs, some glowing with a faint, bioluminescent light.
Damon moved through the undergrowth with practiced ease, his footsteps silent against the carpet of decomposing vegetation.
His golden eyes swept the forest ahead, searching for the specific signature of Alena’s qi.
It was close now. Very close.
He pushed through a curtain of hanging vines and stepped into a small clearing.
And there she was.
Alena Terra knelt in the center of the clearing, her back to him, her attention entirely absorbed by the cluster of plants growing at the base of a massive, moss-covered boulder.
She wore a set of practical travelling robes, a deep forest green that blended almost perfectly with her surroundings.
Her staff lay on the ground beside her, within easy reach but clearly forgotten.
Her fingers moved with careful precision, parting the leaves of a plant with broad, dark-veined leaves to reveal a cluster of small, pale blue flowers growing close to the ground.
She leaned closer, her brow furrowed in concentration, her lips moving silently as she recited something to herself.
Damon watched her for a long moment.
She was beautiful in a way that had nothing to do with the calculated, polished beauty of noblewomen or the fierce, striking beauty of warriors.
Her beauty was the beauty of something natural, something that had grown into its shape without artifice or intention.
The way the dappled light fell across her face, highlighting the curve of her cheek and the line of her jaw.
The way her fingers moved, delicate and sure, treating the plant before her with a reverence that bordered on devotion.
She was an alchemist through and through.
Damon stepped forward, deliberately letting a twig snap beneath his foot.
The sound was sharp and clear in the quiet of the forest.
Alena’s reaction was immediate.
Her head snapped up, her body coiling into a defensive posture as her hand shot out and grabbed her staff.
She rose to her feet in a single, fluid motion, the staff spinning in her grip as she brought it to bear, the tip pointed directly at Damon’s chest.
Her eyes were wide, her breathing sharp, but there was no fear in her gaze.
Just wariness, and the focused readiness of someone who had trained to defend herself.
"Stop right there," she said, her voice steady despite the rapid beat of her pulse that Damon could hear clearly. "Identify yourself."
Damon raised his hands slightly, palms open, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Easy, Alena. It’s me."
Alena’s eyes narrowed, studying his face for a long moment.
Then recognition flickered across her features, and the tension in her shoulders eased.
She lowered her staff, letting the tip rest against the ground.
"Damon," she said, a note of surprise in her voice. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
Damon let his hands drop and walked closer, his movements casual and unhurried.
"I could ask you the same question," he said. "I felt your qi from across the realm and decided to check on you. This place isn’t exactly safe for a solo cultivator."
Alena’s lips quirked in a faint, wry smile.
"I’m aware," she said. "But this forest is rich in rare medicinal herbs. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to collect some while I had the chance."
She gestured at the plant she had been examining.
"Azure Vein Blossoms. They’re incredibly rare outside of this realm. A single blossom can be used as a key ingredient in a pill that can heal severe spiritual damage."
Damon stopped a few feet away from her and looked down at the small blue flowers.
They were delicate things, their petals so thin they were almost translucent, with veins of a deeper blue running through them like rivers on a map.
"Azure Vein Blossoms," he repeated, the name rolling off his tongue. "I’ve heard of them. They’re worth a fortune on the outside."
Alena nodded, her eyes lighting up with the enthusiasm of a true alchemist.
"More than a fortune. They’re practically priceless. The problem is that they’re incredibly difficult to harvest without damaging the petals. One wrong touch, and the spiritual essence inside them disperses."
She knelt back down, her attention returning to the plant.