Souljewel– The God Emperor’s Son

Luo Shun hid behind an ancient tree and thought of his next move, he had been tracking this particular qi tree sprite for a while now and he was so close. His heart began to beat faster at the thought of having in his possession a tree qi sprite Souljewel.

If trees and animals lived long enough they would start having a Souljewel that would be filled with qi energy from the qi energy they had sucked from around them. To get the Souljewel of a tree the tree had to be cut down first and let the tree sprite that carried the Souljewel appear so you could capture them but to get an animals Souljewel was tricky as they would gain intelligence as they grew older and acquire more qi energy.

The older the animals or trees the powerful its Souljewel, the more powerful the sprite and the more difficult is it to take. This particular one was a very nasty and old tree sprite that someone somewhere had cut down its tree and its been wandering the forest of the Yellow Vines Provence border and Luo Shun was determined to capture it.

Maybe if he could get it, it would boost his own qi energy and enable him to start his journey as an immortal human. He had been born with a lightless Souljewel, the jewel at the center of his forehead was brown and lightless, and he could not gather enough qi energy in it to manifest proper affinity or do much of anything.

The best way that he knew of catching a tree qi sprite was by putting it in a rune circle but he could not get close enough to draw on and since the rune would draw from the qi energy in the air when activated, he had was been able to draw little runes. The second way was to shoot it with an arrow that had been inscribed with runes to paralyze it for some moments so he could take its Souljewel.

He had bought the arrow with almost all his eighteen years of life savings. He took a steady breath and gently remove the arrow and bow from his back and took careful aim– the tree sprite was like a small tree man, it had no face and when it moved it was almost like it was crawling, on the center of its head was the small green jewel that Shun was after.

He was not very good at arrow shooting but he figured he could do it, he put the rune-engraved arrow on the bow and then slowly lift it while stringing it. He pointed it at the qi sprite and…..

”What are you doing? ” A voice asked suddenly beside him.

He caught the scream coming out of his mouth, turned and his heart dropped as he looked at the scowling face of Luo Chun, his younger stepbrother. Chun was one year younger than Shun but that didn matter, the qi energy and power you have really was the only thing that really matters. Beside him was another young man from their province that stood beside Chun, their Amber Souljewel sparkling on their head in the afternoon sun.

”Brother Chun, ” he lowered his bow and tried to hide the arrow but there was nowhere he could put it without just drawing attention to it, ”it is a surprise that I am seeing you here. ”

”It is isn it? You have been disappearing from home lately and father decided I followed you and know what it is indeed you are doing, ” his lips curled in disgust as he looked at Shun, ”I told him you are probably looking for a way to get your worthless Souljewel to work. Im right, aren I ? ”

Shuns heart began to beat wildly, he couldn let them know what it is he was doing and while it wasn strictly illegal it would be frowned upon if he was caught with the Souljewel of a qi sprite.

He took careful steps backward, already looking for an opening to run while Chun and his partner continued to look around for hints of what hes been up to.

He flew between them but a hand shot out like a snapping viper and caught him roughly on the shoulder, Chuns affinity was Enhance Physical where he could use the qi energy he had gathered in his Souljewel to fuel his body and make himself stronger. Chun dragged Shun closer to himself, his face had turned red from anger and his Amber Souljewel was glowing from use.

”You tried to run out on us without me finishing with you yet? ” Shun could feel his body tighten, Chun was a physical enhancer and he could break a few bones in his body, and while Shun didn think he would do but he wasn always sure of what Chun could or would not do.

”I beg your humble pardon, brother, I thought you were done with me and I took it as an excuse to leave. ” He looked at Chun but the boy wasn looking at him anymore, his gaze had caught something.

He was looking at Shuns arrow with narrowed eyes, ”what is it you have here? A qi weapon? ”

With his shoulders gripped tight by Chun, he could only watch as Chun ripped the arrow from his hand and shoved him roughly beside him, ”Im only practicing my arrow, mother said it might help. ” He said, hoping Chun would loose interest.

His mother had been a very famous fighter during the last days of the war and her weapon of choice was a bow and arrow, but both were made from pure qi energy.

”Well, I don think anything can help you so Ill do the only thing I know that could help you, ” Chun gripped the arrow in both his hand, ready to snap it in two.

While Chun was still initial Amber and relatively strong, he wasn much stronger than ordinary humans but he still surpass the strength human have by simply boosting his with qi energy.

”Stop, don ! ” Shun shouted but it was already too late, the wooden arrow snapped in two with a loud noise that left the forest silent, ”what have you done? You have just killed us all. ”

”What? ” Chun turned his narrowed eyes on Shun but he didn need to ask because already a loud noise like two giant trees rubbing together could be heard in the forest.

Shun backed away slowly, ”you had just disturbed a tree qi sprite. ”

The angry qi sprite appeared. It had tripled its size from a small man to a huge man with a hand as big as a grown branch, its mouth opened in a scream and its Souljewel glowed like it was showing its displeasure. The boy that followed Chun turned and ran while Chun himself was looking at the sprite in horrid fascination.

Shun backed from the sprite slowly, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as he could but he gave himself away when he shouted, ”Chun get away from there! ”

The qi sprites hand bunched into a fist and punched Chun right on his chest, sending him flying through the air before landing on the forest floor.

But Chun was up a moment later, awkwardly he might be but standing up again, he was and he was running away leaving Shun to face the qi sprite.

Shun gritted his teeth, angry at Chun for following him and angry at himself for not being powerful enough, he also felt a flash of envy. If the sprite had punched him like that, he might not survive but Chun just take it and was on the run again, he must have draw on his qi energy.

How would he handle an angry qi tree sprite all by himself now?