Maximilian ducked to avoid a hornet the size of a doberman before blasting it with a burst of electricity. He had run for two days before he stumbled across their nest. He had intended to go around but either the ugly insects had a sixth sense or he was terrible at stealth. Either way they hadn't stopped chasing him. As if one trial wasn't enough the bugs were faster and more durable than him. He had been forced into a high stake game of cat and mouse. He activated and imbued Severing Disc with the Dao of Static just in time to split two of the hornets in half before he was forced to flee again. If it hadn't been for his instincts he would've already died a handful of times. His nerves were fried from the constant warnings but what could he do? To ignore them meant death. Sword clashed with a stinger harder than steel As he summoned a sword from his bag just in time to block a stinger the size of his forearm. No sooner had he killed that one did two more dive bomb him. He dodged the first but the second tore a gash into his right arm. Agony shot through him as he fought to push the Dao of Rain into the wound. He wasn't sure if the hornets were using a dao poison or if he had succeeded in making a healing dao. Not that it mattered. If too many of them injected him he would die. No matter how much mental energy he had.

  He activated Prismatic Barrier seconds before another hornet was on him. The rainbow barrier illuminated the forest right before the hornet slammed into it with, the force of a shotgun. Despite the power of the skill, the stinger punched a hole through it. Causing a lattice work of brilliant color to spread from the impact zone. It penetrated a fourth of an inch but that did little to make Maximilian fill better. The stinger prevented him from repairing the skill and his instincts told him that the creatures knew that. Three more hornets shot toward him like missile prepared to destroy one of their own if it meant taking him with it. He unleashed his Aura and Dao fields to their largest. For a moment his Daos resonated like two discordant melodies meeting on an off note. He reached for the feeling only to lose it once again. It was as if the harder he wanted it the further away it would go. Regardless it was enough forcing his attackers away. Energy surged into his legs seconds before he launched himself into the thick tree canopy. He knew the trees weren't strong enough to stop the bugs, but they might give him cover. They might be able to buy him a fraction of a second.

  The hornets had to have a limit. They had to have a queen or something back at the hive. Which should mean he had to get further away. He shot back toward the ground a fraction of a second before the tree had been in exploded. A hornet almost half again as big as the others blasted through it like a bull in a China shop. He had less than half a second to move before the hornet was on him. Electricity crackled as he counter attacked. He shifted his focus. He didn't need his instincts to tell him he couldn't out run that thing. A brilliant mine field of electricity seconds before the hornet charged. The cacophonous sound of its wings deafened him as he activated his defensive skill and released his Dao field. All his defenses were enough to create an opening. Twin blades attacked the hornet from opposite sides. The bug attempted to dodge only to be inundated with all of Maximilian's killing intent. The forest became a bloodied battlefield centered on the two of them. The sudden change caused the beast to freeze long enough for it be trisected.

  Maximilian grinned as the remains fell to the ground. He relished the victory for a moment before he prepared himself to run. Before he could make his exit a brutal screech filled the air. The harshness of the sound threw off his timing as hornet dived at him. The next moment the sky filled with three women like something out of hero movie. It took his brain a second to process what he had seen. Harpies. Three of them had come out of nowhere to help him. Further they were cultivators. Their talons glowed with spiritual energy as they ripped the hornets apart. Bits of exoskeleton and other bug parts fell to the ground in a display that made his stomach curl. Maximilian retracted his Dao, aura and killing intent as close to him as possible. He was going to suppress it completely, but his instincts stopped him. The trio of women were some sort of bone armor that made them look like savage barbarians from a fantasy novel. Despite that they weren't as strong as him. He doubted they were above level six or seven. It was their teamwork that made them frightening. It was as if they had a six sense for where the others were and what they would do next. He wasn't sure if it was something unique to their species or if they had trained like that. Either way he was jealous.

  When they had finished the last bug he was about to step forward when the tallest of the trio disappeared. His heart nearly stopped when a scream of mortal danger forced him to unleash his Dao fields. In the next moment electricity clashed with knife like talons. The harpy was forced back three feet and snarled. Maximilian held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I am not your enemy. I have no interest in—" His words were interrupted when the trio shot toward him in three-pronged attack. "Fuck me." He exclaimed as the trio blasted into his Dao field. The water and electricity resisted their charge, but it wasn't enough. He pushed spiritual energy into his legs and shot into the air. He had made halfway to his target when the trio caught up to him. He started for activate Severing Disc when he stopped himself. His hesitation earned him a nasty trio of wounds across his back and right leg. He screamed and shifted in midair to avoid crashing into the ground. He formed a mine field of electrical darts in hope it would deter a follow up.

  Part of him regretted not blasting them but he squashed it. He couldn't say for sure but the second attack seemed like it was to incapacitate not kill. If that was the case then they were capable of diplomacy or at least taking hostages. He pushed a small amount of spiritual energy into his throat to amplify his voice enough to wake the dead. "Stop! I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to. You should have some sort of leader. Bring me to her!" He released a small amount of his killing intent hoping it would further deter them. When they didn't attack he considered it a small victory. He stopped creating new darts but continued to cycle his cultivation manual. He wasn't sure if it was possible for him to take all three down without causing serious injury but he would give it a try. Several more tense moments passed before the tree stepped back toward the tree line. The one Maximilian assumed was their leader pointed and made a sound that was akin to a hawk's cry. A sound that translated to follow. They then took off. He stared after them for a few moments before he grinned. This was like a fantasy novel. Fortunately for him he was fast enough that he could follow without boosting himself with spiritual energy.

  He followed them for over an hour before the forest changed. Gone were the trees he was used to, replaced with a forest that boggled the mine. Trees that were as tall as skyscrapers reached for the sky like the fingers of primordial deities. He could feel the spiritual energy in them which he assumed was the reason they got so big. He wanted to ask if they had some sort of druid or maybe an array, but he decided against it. He didn't think the group was in the mood to explain the details of their home. It wasn't long until they entered a settlement or at least the outskirts of one. Nestled in the canopies were buildings. Only they had somehow made the trees into living buildings. It was a display of oneness with nature that awed him. For a moment he wondered if he had made the wrong choice. Had had focused on a Dao related to plants could he have done this? Or perhaps one of stone and Earth to better harmonize with the mountain. He shook his head. He wasn't sure if that feeling was related to his Dao heart, but he wasn't going to second guess himself. He had done more than enough of that in the old world.

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  He was a far cry from the gods in stories, but his powers were the domain of Zeus and Jupiter how could they be worse than plants? He snapped out of his thoughts as a sound he hadn't heard in what felt like a lifetime hit his ears. Laughter. Not any laughter but children's laughter. He glanced up and found several harpy children flitting about canopy of the trees. He wasn't sure if they had to learn or if it was an innate skill, but he could tell that they couldn't sustain it long. It was enough to get them from tree to tree. They were so much like baby birds that he wondered if they also hatched from eggs. He added it to the list of things he wanted to ask them about. The deeper into their settlement he got the more faces he saw. Contrary to what he believed the harpies were a mix of all kinds of birds with all kinds of plumage. In addition they weren't all split evenly. Some had humanoid torsos while others were almost humanoid except their avian heads. He couldn't help but wonder if there was discrimination across the types but from what he could see everyone got along. He followed after the tree for another few minutes before their leader raised a feathered arm.

  She made a noise that was either not a word or was something beyond his language skill. The sound elicited several more in response before the trees shook as several more harpies appeared. Five more flew down to form a semicircle around him. All five were cultivators though they were considerably weaker than the trio. Despite the comparative difference in power, he couldn't help but feel boxed in. He wasn't willing to risk the lives of the innocents which would make a battle here that much harder. He considered drawing a weapon from his bag but decided against it. His instincts hadn't warned of danger which helped to calm his nerves. They stood there in tense silence for what felt like an hour before another person appeared. They were a harpy but smaller and older though he couldn't be sure. He sensed almost no spiritual energy coming from the woman. In fact she felt older than Mama June. She was less human in appearance. Instead, she was closer to a avian were wolf. She had three talons on her hands but otherwise wielded no weapons.

  "You are one of the humans?" She asked though the question felt more like an accusation than anything else.

  "I am. I met some of your people during the tutorial. I am glad to see that you all are doing so well." He gestured all around them with his eyes.

  "Many of the All-Mothers daughters are scattered to the four winds. We find ourselves lost among foreign trees and monuments to a world that neither welcomes nor defends us. I do not believe we can consider our current situation to be well."

  Maximilian couldn't argue with her assessment of their situation. Nor did he want to get bogged down by an argument over the new world. "Your story is all too common. I had hoped to form a peace with you and yours."

  She gave a nod of her head. "Are you the Queen of the humans? My daughters tell me of your strength. That you had defeated many of the foreign beasts before they intervened. Are you here in peace or as a conqueror?" Maximilian could almost cut the tension with a knife as the group waited for his answer. They leaked killing intent though he could tell that they were trying to suppress it. Almost like a person trying to hold back a fire hose with their bare hands. Though to call their killing intent a hose was being too kind. Together it was enough to make the hair on his neck stand up but that was about it. What he didn't understand was why the older harpy was fine. It was almost like the intent refused to hurt her. Further she had expected it. He added that to the list of things he wanted to learn if he could.

  "No, I don't think so anyway. I am the leader of a place called Nubia. It's at the top of the great mountain." He gestured in the direction he had come. "I can't speak for all humanity. Are you able to speak for all the harpies?" He doubted that this woman would be a monarch though it could be possible. A society ruled by elders was somewhat common but what would his luck be if he encountered the leader of their entire species? Of course, he did have a large luck stat so —

  "No, the grand matriarch is somewhere else. We are still searching. If you have any information we would provide you with an appropriate reward." She paused expectantly before continuing when Maximilian made no attempt to interrupt her. "You have the ability to speak with us. Do you have access to that skill? and is so are you able to share it with us?"

  Maximilian paused for a moment as he considered whether or not he wanted to share his reward. He ran all the options but in his heart he knew the correct answer. Giving them access to the cost didn't cost him much. He had already confirmed with Nezha that unlimited skills were real and that they weren't that rare in the multiverse. Of course, on earth that might not be the case. That wasn't the reason he made up his mind though. This was the kind of situation he wanted to fix. He had access to a resource people needed. In the old world the smart thing to do would be to hoard it and sell it or something similar. "Yes, I have it though not with me. I am willing to let some of your people access the skill slip." He held up a hand to stop what he assumed was an offer to buy it. "You can have it free of charge. I only ask that you attempt peace before you attack people in the future. I want to preserve life if I can."

  "Spoken like a daughter of the forests. I will tell my daughters to follow your wishes though I can promise anything about people not from this nest."

  Maximilian nodded his agreement. He considered offering a handshake, but that idea died when he looked at her talons. He was confident his skin could hold up against it but there was still a part of him that didn't want to risk it. "I will need to take some of your people back to Nubia. The skill slip is inside a building there. Please select five of them to come with me and then I will share the skill with them. After they've gotten, we can do five more. We repeat until everyone has received it?" They hammered out a few more details as they guided Maximilian into one of the larger tree buildings. The building was empty except for the teleportation array. He was disappointed when he saw it. He had expected it took different. Something plant based or weird, but it was the same as his own. Only he couldn't interact with it until they gave him permission. He activated and found that they were close enough to teleport to what used to be Bridgerock which should make the journey easier. It would be a handful of trips and then he could continue his search.

  With that settled he took a seat and focused on his meditation. He decided not to eavesdrop on their conversation. From the small bits he had heard there was no clear agreement on who would go first. He could understand their distrust. From what he understood once they appeared in Nubia, they would need permission to use the teleporter. If you added that to his power than there was a good chance that they wouldn't be able to leave. Of course, he wouldn't do something like that but they had no reason to believe that. Either way it wasn't something he could deal with. He refused to allow himself to sink too deep which stunted the progress he could make. He would be blind and deaf. He had faith in his power but that was too big a risk. Even for the chance to advance. Not that he was in desperate need for that either. He stayed like that until he felt five people enter the room. He opened his eyes and grinned at the familiar faces. It was time to go.