I pulled in air desperately through my nostrils as I ran as fast as my enforced legs would take me. Above the badlands, the merciless sun blazed down upon my shirtless form like the edge of a sword being run over my skin. On either side of my rose, the tan rocks of the chasm I sprinted along. Despite the natural walls rising high above me, the chasm offered no shade, and if I wasn’t mistaken, actually reflected the heat of the sun to cook me from multiple angles.

  My discomfort didn’t matter anywhere near enough to break the cover offered by the rocks. Not with Ding Yuan’s elite guard pursuing me. The ten mounted men could shoot a teacup out of a child’s hand at greater than two Li mid gallop, making them almost as accurate with a bow as I was. Far too dangerous for me to risk being spotted on the flat dry ground above.

  There might only be ten men hunting me, ranging across the hundreds of Li that made up the dry and cracked landscape I was fleeing across. The problem was a combination of their keen senses, the lack of cover on the badlands, and, of course their steeds.

  Having grown up on the northern tip of my province, I have never been a stranger to horses. My first father and I spent many spring nights hunting down the wild herds for resale, as a matter of fact, the cavalrymen produced near The City Of Deer are considered some of the most skilled in the world.

  None of that prepared me for the horses that graced Ding Yuan's stables. Descended from a mighty bloodline, the beasts naturally knew enough of Cultivation to far outstrip the speed or durability of any steed I had ever laid eyes on before, and that was before they learned techniques of their own. Something all ten of the horses hunting me possessed.

  If I were spotted, I could look forward to horses shooting beams from their eyes, or lightning from their hooves. I knew for a fact at least one of my pursuers’ mounts could breathe fire. The explosive nature of the techniques used by both rider and steed would quickly alert the rest of the ten no matter how scattered through the badlands they were.

  Once that happened, being run down by my foes was only a matter of time. Even I couldn’t outrun these horses over a flat stretch. It was obvious that I would be forced to flee along one of the chasms that cut through the yellow landscape of the badlands, but I knew that they knew that I would know that. I’m cunning like that.

  Fortunately, there were dozens of chasms like the one I was running down, and I had left multiple false trails to lead the hunters down the wrong ones. It wouldn't fool them for long if it fooled them at all, but every extra moment I could go undiscovered was a gift to be cherished.

  I focused on my breathing in order to increase the speed that Qi flowed throughout my body. While I had spent the last few months focusing almost exclusively on Physical Cultivation, it was still important to maintain a high level of spiritual control, especially today of all days.

  ‘In through the nostrils, pull the breath down through my chest, hold it in my stomach, and pull the energy from the air through my Diantian, feel it flow through my legs and feet, and finally exhale back through my nostrils.’

  It isn't a complicated process when sitting in a serene temple or before some natural wonder. Stopping myself from panting like an overheated hound was a lot more challenging while I fled across the broken terrain of the badlands, with a full cup of water balanced in each of my palms.

  While I would never need to perform such a feat of dexterity in a true battle, this training forced me to split my concentration in a way that had proven extremely helpful in both my physical and spiritual cultivation. More than the actual benefits to my growth, pride was on the line for me in a way I had never encountered before.

  I had attempted this exercise seven previous times, and I Lu Bu had failed to complete it every single time.

  I had never failed at a task seven times in my entire life, and the idea that this particular challenge was too much for me was more than galling. It had shaken me to my cores. Was this how everyone else felt all the time? Like they might fail at any moment, like they were potentially too weak, or otherwise inadequate to a task?! How did they walk around every day with these insecurities bouncing around inside their minds?

  I admit these failures had helped me grow, and each time I had made it a little further across the badlands before I had been forced to drop one of my cups. That would never be enough for me. Even though only a few months into my official adoption by Ding Yuan all knew I was among the strongest in the entire province. I should have been able to crush any and all challenges placed before me!

  It didn’t matter that by the standards of the men around me, I was still advancing at a prodigious rate; those were the opinions of lesser men…even if those lesser men were technically more powerful and experienced than I was.

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  Their advantages over me were only temporary, I knew that, and after today, they would all know it too.

  I would cross the badlands with my cups unspilled, I would prove once more to my adopted father that I Lu Bu was and had always been the best and only choice to inherit him.

  The wind changed, bringing with it a familiar earthy musk underscored by sweat.

  ‘Shit! Alright, just because you can smell a horse to the west doesn’t mean you’ve been spotted.’ I was in the midst of reassuring myself when I heard the telltale hiss, then BOOM of a firework arrow.

  I risked a glance upward in time to see the crimson firework bloom, breaking the endless blue of the badlands sky…directly above me.

  ‘Shiiiitttt!’ While I had known that my pursuers would find me sooner rather than later, I hadn’t crossed nearly as much distance as I’d hoped to before discovery. The firework would bring all ten riders down upon my position with frightening speed, but I also knew from painful experience that even with my location compromised, it would be better to stay within the chasm for as long as I could.

  The badlands above were simply too flat, too empty, too easy for their horses to traverse.

  Besides, the chasm walls were only the height of six or seven men; if I needed to escape the rocky gully quickly, I would simply run up one of the walls. It was a feat the mounted men could replicate, but not with anywhere near the ease I could.

  Gritting my teeth, I urged my body to provide me with more speed.

  ‘In through the nostrils, pull the breath down through my chest, hold it in my stomach, and pull the energy from the air through my Diantian, feel it flow through my legs and feet, and finally exhale back through my nostrils.’

  I repeated the mantra internally every other breath as the smell of horse and the crash of running hooves on stone drew ever closer.

  ‘In through the nostrils, pull the breath down through my che-’

  A barrage of flame techniques shaped like oversized spears, arrows, and all manner of sharp implements arced overhead before slamming down to detonate around me.

  Immediately, I knew it was Yanxie who had found me first. The youngest, but largest of Ding Yuan’s elites. He would be riding the stallion Baihuo. The pair of them were a dangerous combination, the horse breathing fire, the rider shaping and directing the element.

  Ignoring the way the flames peeled the skin from my shirtless back, I directed additional Qi into the palms of my hands. The energy kept the cups stable as I launched myself into the air and out of range of the cascading explosions.

  Twisting mid-flight, I kept my hands flat and close to my body while I reoriented myself.

  For the purposes of this training exercise, I was allowed no weapons or armor. It wasn’t forbidden for me to defend myself; it was merely difficult to do with any degree of success.

  Difficult, but not impossible. As I spun in the air, I looked over my shoulder to confirm that I'd been right about who was pursuing me.

  As I'd expected, Yanxie was to my left, riding beside the chasm, with his bow in hand. Every few heartbeats, the bulky stallion would huff out a small blast of fire that was immediately seized and launched through the bow by Yanxie's Quiver Of The Flame Sovereign technique.

  It was this combination of techniques that allowed the large man to keep up such a continuous barrage of explosive attacks. The man saved Qi by not creating the fire, and the horse did the same by not having to direct it.

  It was also this combination of techniques that was going to allow me to defeat the big moron, and his fiery steed.

  Having completed my mid-air spin, I lashed out with a leg to kick off the chasm wall. Just in time to flick the same foot out and kick a rock that Yanxie's technique had been kind enough to blast out of the chasm floor and send flying upwards.

  My kick was perfectly aimed and timed, of course it was, I threw it. The rock shot towards Yanxie's face with the speed of a diving falcon and the force of a battering ram.

  It struck him in the middle of his forehead, sending the large man tumbling from the horse in a heap. He was evidently so stunned that he made no effort to prevent or mitigate his fall, but he was wearing a helmet; he would be okay…probably be okay.

  I had more pressing concerns than Yanxie’s health, namely, keeping the now-spinning water from flying out of the cups in my hands. I had managed to keep the cups steady,but that didn’t stop the water itself moving.

  As my feet touched back down on the rocky chasm floor, I noticed a cloud of dust being kicked up back the way I had come from down the chasm. If that had been the only sign of pursuit, it would have been bad enough, but I could hear the familiar whistle of arrows coming in from the north-east.

  ‘I can’t fail again, I will not fail again, I will die before I fail this challenge even one more time!’

  I did not fail again.

  The brutal badlands sun was beginning to set when I came stumbling into the day-camp that was acting as a picnic area for my adopted father, Ding Yuan. He sat surrounded by a loose array of soldiers at a fine and ornately carved table of wood and ivory.

  He had his thin but long white hair tied up in a topknot, his equally white beard had recently been shaped by a barber, and looked very regal.

  The old man’s eyes and those of several of his protectors widened as I approached. Four arrows in my back, two lightning burns across my chest, three burns from flame techniques all along my right side, two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and two cups full of water came with me.

  ?

  The glare I leveled at my lord and adopted father was equal parts triumph and malice. Keeping my eyes locked on his, I spat the water I had been holding in my mouth since early this morning, onto the ground.“ There is your proof that I only breathed through my fucking nose.” I growled at him before slamming both of the still-full cups down on the table before him.

  “And there are your bullshit cups! I…” I took a few panting breaths. “ I win.”

  The lord inspector who ruled the entire province and the millions of people within it inclined his head with a tiny smile.

  “Well done.”

  Would you call this chapter aura farming? A little right? Hahah.