As Yin Xiu's body slowly adapted to the changes brought about by his delirious cultivation. A pitch black tiger with a few white stripes approached curiously.
"How did he survive going into that clearing? Mom wouldn't let me go near it at all." The tiger eagerly looked at Yin Xiu waiting for the chance to get all of the answers that he so desperately wished to know.
"He won't be too scared to see me right? He shouldn't, he killed that blood-spotted viper very easily..." He mused absentmindedly.
"Arghh.... my head is killing me!" Yin Xiu groaned as he finally managed to stir himself awake. Fragments of the memories from the past two weeks blurring together to make a chaotic tapestry in his mind.
"All I remember clearly is eating the strange fruits in the clearing, and then eating that berry that was glowing. I guess I kept eating things because, I vaguely recall eating some glowing lights after that. This isn't how I imagined cultivating... hopefully I didn't mess something up." As he stewed in contemplation, a low growl entered his ears. He turned his head slowly to find an awe-inspiring tiger looking at him with yellow eyes.
The air seemed to freeze for a second, as one man and one beast sized each other up. While Yin Xiu was debating whether to run, the tiger did something he never expected.
"Ahem, greetings human, I am Hu Meng, a glorious shadow-step tiger and descendant of the noble White tiger of the West." Hu Meng growled slowly while closely observing Yin Xiu's reaction.
"Ah well hello, Hu Meng I am Yin Xiu, I don't have a noble lineage." He said as he quickly stood up, and said as politely as possible.
"Well that's to be expected, not everyone can be as noble as myself." Hu Meng responded with a touch of satisfaction "So, Yin Xiu I have a few questions I'd like to ask you if you don't mind." getting a nod in response, Hu Meng, continued "What exactly is in that clearing you went into the other day?" He asked with a look of anticipation.
"Well it's filled with a wide variety of bones, and in the middle of the clearing there is a tree with a white trunk, purple leaves, and blood red fruits.... hold on how did you know that I had gone there?" Yin Xiu questioned with a strange look on his face.
"Ahem well I was kind of following you for a while.. hehe" Hu Meng scratched the ground in embarrassment and turned in circles for a bit.
"Don't worry though I wasn't going to eat you or anything, I was just curious. Mostly because I'd never seen a human before you, so I was just observing from afar." Hu Meng coughed and hurriedly changed the subject.
"By the way what technique were you cultivating to change your appearance so much?" Hu Meng's eyes glowed with interest while staring at Yin Xiu's purple hair, blood red eyes and porcelain white skin.
"My appearance?" Yin Xiu asked in confusion
"Check your hair." Hu Meng responded with a bit of disdain.
Yin Xiu pulled down a strand and gawked in disbelief at the completely alien look his features had taken.
"Your eyes are red now too." Hu Meng added.
"Well I'm not entirely sure. I was enthralled by that tree, and then I almost died as the poison took effect, luckily I felt my chest heat up. After that I ate the rest of the fruits. Then I'm not entirely sure what was happening before you found me the way I was."
Hu Meng stared at him with a strange expression. Then nodded, and said "Well... okay then, Would you be interested in meeting with my mother?" "Your mom?" Yin Xiu asked with intrigue.
"Yeah she's the strongest in this area of the forest. All of this stretch of summer, and the neighboring stretch of autumn is her territory." Hu Meng spoke with pride and a hint of reverence in his voice.
"Of course I would like to meet her!" Yin Xiu said with barely restrained excitement on his face. He had long wished to ask about cultivation with a senior. His dream since he first heard the stories back in his village of immortals riding swords through the sky, and striking mountains to ash with a palm was to follow in their footsteps.
"Follow me!" Hu Meng started along the path while bombarding Yin Xiu with questions about human society. Yin Xiu answered as best as he could, though he really wasn't all that experienced himself. He hadn't even gone to a larger city since he was born. This was quite literally his first journey into the wider world. Hu Meng was oblivious to this, as he listened with rapt interest about Yin Xiu's experiences.
As they walked deeper into the forest, the surroundings transitioned to an area of autumn, with brightly colored leaves floating on the breeze, looking idyllic and serene. Quickly they approached a small mountain peak, with signs of habitation. A small cave was dug out midway up the mountain with a clear pathway leading straight to it.
As they entered the cave a velvety female voice entered their ears. "Hu Meng, why did you bring a human to me?" soon a figure lazily entered their sights from the darkness. It was a massive tiger more than five times larger than Hu Meng.
A veritable behemoth, with the complete opposite coloring to her son. Mainly white with a few black stripes here and there obviously heavily inheriting the blood of the White Tiger of the West.
"Mom this is Yin Xiu, an interesting human I found in the summer area." Hu Meng quickly explained.
"Greetings senior, I apologize for intruding into your territory." Yin Xiu bowed as politely as possible, still quite ill at ease with the situation, as the tiger in front of him placed an overwhelming pressure on him.
"Hmm.. human I am Hu Fang." before Yin Xiu could respond, the large tiger stood up and began to circle around him. "You don't really feel quite like any human I've seen before."
"What do you mean senior?" Yin Xiu asked nervously.
"Your aura is more closely related to a plant than a pure human. Do you practice a special technique? Also, how did you manage to venture this deep into the forest with your meager strength?"
Yin Xiu hurriedly explained his journey including the bear attack, the trip into the glade, and with occasional supplements from Hu Meng, the events of the two weeks he was in a daze cultivating.
After the explanation Hu Fang wore a complex expression before saying "You really don't know much of anything do you boy?" Yin Xiu bowed his head in shame replying "I apologize senior I was originally going to try my luck with joining the Azure Cliff Sword sect to step onto the path of cultivation."
"Well... this might be better for you in the end, but to confirm my suspicions. I must make an unkind request to use my divine sense to examine your body. It might be uncomfortable, but if you wish to know more about your changes it is necessary to do so."
"Thank you senior please go ahead." Yin Xiu quickly acquiesced, followed quickly by a weird sensation that seemed to scan his entire body. "Hmm, so that's how it is." Almost immediately locking onto the bone in his chest. "It seems you have a particular physique."
"What is a physique senior?" Yin Xiu asked with expectation.
"It is a natural advantage that some lucky individuals are born with on the path of cultivation. Kind of like how my son and I both have the bloodline of the White Tiger." Hu Fang said with a tinge of exasperation.
"Do you know what my physique is senior." Yin Xiu quickly bowed, and asked with tension.
"How would I know? I'm a tiger that lives in a forest surrounded by other spirit beasts." She looked at Yin Xiu like he was an idiot before continuing. "I can tell that you have a yin based bone, which should have something to do with poison. To understand what it is specifically, you will have to search for records from your human race, but be careful to reveal that you have a special physique while you're so weak, as someone will more than likely kill you for it." Quickly she continued lest Yin Xiu ask another question. "You also cultivated the body refining stage in a unique order."
"Can you explain the body refining stage for me please senior?" Yin Xiu asked with embarrassment.
"You really know nothing about cultivation." she sighed before continuing "For humans, the body refining stage has four stages, and it is mainly to prepare the body for being able to hold and utilize Qi without dying. It starts from the outside going inwardly starting with refining the skin, followed by the muscles, then the bones, and finally the organs. You skipped skin refining entirely, while you completely refined your muscle, and you also refined one bone. Namely the bone from your special physique."
"I can give you this cultivation technique for the body refining stage, but you won't be able to cultivate it verbatim. You have your own unique path that you will more than likely have to walk on your own." She warned seriously.
"This can lead you either to greatness or obscurity, as you won't be able to receive much in the way of guidance from anyone. Poison techniques are rather unpopular among humankind, and is much more widely used by various spirit beasts. You will only be able to use them as an auxiliary to possibly draw inspiration from as our physiques and techniques are vastly different in comparison to humans."
"I really appreciate this grace of teaching senior." Yin Xiu said as he bowed deeply.
"Well I'm not helping you for free young man." a sly glint flashing through her massive eyes. "When you step into Qi training I want you to do some things for me."
"What would you like this junior to do?" Yin Xiu asked with a touch of apprehension.
"I have quite bit of resources I have collected over the years, but they are not suitable for either myself nor Hu Meng to practice with, so I want you to use your identity, as a human to exchange them for things I do need."
"Don't think you can run away either as Hu Meng might be young and immature, but he is naturally skilled in the Dao of shadow, and will be able to follow you without you being aware." She threatened casually.
"I agree to your terms senior." Yin Xiu agreed quickly. In his opinion it was a rather simple decision, as practicing under the protection of such a powerful senior would only benefit him in the long run. Plus the task he was entrusted with seemed fairly simple.
"Take this." she said as she tossed a rather beaten booklet in Yin Xiu's direction. "That's enough for today."
Hu Meng, and Yin Xiu bowed out of the cave dwelling before they turned their gaze curiously to the booklet which read "Azure Cliff Refining Art."