Yuhzi didn't forget that he was still in a battle against the bandits. Now that he had finally become his true self, he didn't have any more stupid thoughts like the fake him had.
Any bandit on his path would soon die, but he also didn't put himself at risk to help or protect someone.
And before he knew it, all the bandits on this side of the nest had been killed.
"Everyone, gather at the center of the nest, the leader must be ready." The leader of this small squad gathered everyone before he also departed to the center.
There, Yuzhi found a scene he could only call magical.
Lu Ming, the giant among humans, standing on several corpses, the aura he gave of giving shivers to Yuzhi.
Blood was everywhere, and the man lying in front of him gave an aura that made Yuzhi quickly realize he was the bandit leader.
'Despite being so near to death, I can still feel his strength.' Yuzhi admired this strength, but it also made him realize how deep the well was that he was trapped inside.
An Azura Qi Channeling cultivator, even among Qi Channeling Realm cultivators isn't anything special. But he still admired the strength of such a person? How laughable.
Lu Ming stepped on the head of the bandit leader, not caring about giving his enemy respect, and killed him.
Soon, every single bandit was killed, the resources inside the bandit nest were gathered, and the humans that were found were given treatment.
Since it was already becoming dark, they remained here, only leaving early in the morning.
And before Yuzhi knew it, he had arrived at Stoney Leaf Village.
The tiredness that was inside his body came out, making him fall on his bed. He didn't care about the people the fake him liked.
Soon, he fell asleep, only to wake up again when the sun came out. Although he had something he wanted to do, there was something he needed to do first.
Attend School.
Xiang Xin didn't give them any rest.
But at least he gave them something else.
"The village has decided to reward all of you for your work. The reward is a part of a technique, the 3 Stone Leaves Fist Technique. Although it is only a part of a technique, any technique is incredibly valuable and who knows? Maybe one day you will get the rest of the technique."
Although the fake Yuzhi probably wouldn't have realized, the current Yuzhi, the one that was a business mogul didn't even need to think to find out what the village was doing.
They gave a part of a technique, which alone wasn't very valuable, but if completed could become something very beneficial to them.
But to get it, they would probably need to sign their lives to the village.
To people like Lu Yin and Lu Wei whose families were deeply rooted in the village, this wasn't needed.
But for people like Yuzhi of Liang Lei, who could maybe decide to try their chances in the outside world instead of remaining in the village, something like this could be the reason why they remained.
But Yuzhi was someone who wanted to explore the world, not remain in this small part of it.
After school, he did something the fake him wanted to do for a while but had laid it off to cultivate.
He went to the lake, several spears in his hands.
The lake, just like always, was incredibly beautiful, and Yuzhi had the desire to jump in it.
But after all that happened to him, how could he not realize that this lake wasn't normal?
He got in form and threw the spear with its tip surrounded by Qi at the rock in the middle of the lack.
The spear, containing the incredible power of Qi, was able to travel quite deep in the rock but suddenly stopped.
But this only furthered Yuzhi's suspicion that there was something in that rock.
Which in turn made him even more want to know what was inside.
But he couldn't break the rock to see what was inside without actually getting close to it.
But to get close to the water, he would need to go in the lake. But he couldn't do that. According to his guess, this lake was the reason why that fake him was able to get control of him.
Yuzhi threw all his spears at the rock, but the same thing kept happening and they stopped moving forward when they reached a certain point.
Yuzhi went back home, trying to think of a way to reach the rock.
Which was approximately 10 meters from the place where the lake ended.
He could maybe build a bridge, but how would he even start? After all, he had only a month to achieve his objective.
After thinking for a while, the best idea he got was to construct stepping stones.
The lake at its deepest point was around 3 meters, so if he was able to place logs there, even if they weren't stable, he would only need to cross them 2 times.
So, days passed like seconds, and an entire month had passed. And although Yuzhi placed quite a lot of focus on upgrading his cultivation base. He knew he would need a few more weeks before reaching the Azura Qi Channeling Realm.
Besides that, he had tried to decipher the 3 Stone Leaves Fist Technique, but he had no success. His experience is too little.
And although nothing special had happened in this month that made his strength increase in leaps and bounds. He was still stronger than the past him, having focused on tackling his weaknesses and training his strengths.
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"Today will be our last day together, I am proud of the progress all of you have made, and hope that you will remain in the village, but understand if you leave." Unlike what Yuzhi had previously expected, Xiang Xin didn't put any pressure on anyone to stay in the village. Understand that everyone needs to walk their path.
"You don't need to choose now if you want to remain or leave, in 5 days I will need your answer. Of course, if you want to leave earlier, you can always tell me and go."
"For now, leave, and make sure to focus on your cultivation, but don't forget the people around you." Everyone left, and before closing the gate, Yuzhi looked back at Xiang Xin, who was sipping some alcohol.
Xiang Xin reminded Yuzhi of his "family" from this world. While he may call himself a demon, someone who is ready to sacrifice anyone if it means he can survive.
That didn't mean he couldn't love, it didn't mean he didn't have a heart. But his heart already had a number 1.
But that didn't mean he couldn't understand the things these people had done for him, the influence they had over his life.
He felt strangely sentimental. But he also knew why. Because soon he would leave this village.
Despite having the feeling like there was still so much left to explore here like who exactly his master was? How was this village created? And how did he end up here?
Sometimes life didn't give time for all the answers to be questioned.
Sometimes it felt like fate still had things in its store despite people moving on.
But before he left this village, there was one more thing he needed to do. And Yuzhi departed to the lake.
There he had used this past month to construct several stepping stones, and today he would travel to the rock with a stone axe he had created.
'Finally, I can see the mystery hidden underneath.' Yuzhi stood on a log, the axe high in the air before it dropped on the rock.
Yuzhi did this again and again and again, before finally, the rock revealed what was underneath.
He could see a very small plant, a ginseng to be more specific, its main root had this black to slightly red color, while its extra roots were red, carrying this kind of aura that hypnotized people.
Yuzhi tried to touch it, but suddenly a transparent red shield manifested around it, explaining why there was this ball of air in a stone.
But when Yuzhi touched the red shield, a wave of familiarity went through his soul.
"Th-tht-this is e-earth." Yuzhi's voice trembled with his soul being overcome by a strange feeling.
He didn't know why, or how he knew what he knew. But he just knew that this plant and his previous world had merged. And now within this Ginseng lay a universe.
"Is this why I was having such thoughts when I died." Yuzhi was able to remember, the fake him had already manifested before entering this world.
And the fake him was the normal him without the evilness, the bad thoughts, the experience. And this Ginseng had created that version of him by eating his evilness and bad thoughts. By suppressing the real him.
This would explain why he was already like that before coming in contact with the water of this lake, that was controlled by the Ginseng.
Although he still had many questions, Yuzhi knew one thing.
'This Ginseng is something incredibly valuable'. While he was quite talented in cultivating, that only applied in Stoney Leaf Village. How would he compare to those ancient monsters and talented youngsters? Only his wit wouldn't be enough.
But this Ginseng was what he was looking for, something to aid him on this difficult journey he was on.
Without hesitation, Yuzhi tried to grab the Ginseng again, the red shield manifesting just like before.
But he didn't stop, he forced his hand through this shield.
The pain he felt wasn't physical, but mental.
'If hell existed, this was what it must feel like.' It felt like countless devils and demons were tormenting him.
But he didn't stop, the pain couldn't stop him. And after what felt like years, Yuzhi broke the red shield, his hand grabbing the Ginseng.
And although he knew this was dangerous. What if this Ginseng suppressed him and transformed him into this fake self again?
That was a risk Yuzhi was willing to take. Even in his previous life, he had taken countless risks that could kill him to reach the top from the bottom.
Why should anything be different? He didn't have the luxury to walk the easy path, so why shouldn't he walk the path full of thorns and blockades?
So without any hesitation, Yuzhi put the Ginseng in his mouth and swallowed. And if heaven and earth were grand, Yuzhi just felt like he swallowed infinity.
The feeling he felt was transcendent. He felt like he was the world, fate, and god all at once.
The feeling was addictive, but soon it ended.
'No, it didn't end, I got used to it.' A god only felt like a god when compared to a mortal's perspective. And heck, he wasn't even a god, he just felt like one.
Yuzhi wanted to leave the lake, but before he knew it, the water was already in a whirlpool around him, making him unable to leave.
But suddenly, it all started forcing itself inside his mouth, Yuzhi wasn't able to fight back and only let this water enter him through his mouth.
But while he expected to bloat up till he exploded, the water didn't even enter his body and went to some other place.
To the Ginseng, or better said, in the Ginseng.
'The Ginseng and earth are one, like a symbiotic relationship. The Ginseng protects and provides Earth with benefits while Earth gives the Ginseng its resources. But now the Ginseng is inside of me, meaning earth is inside of me.' Yuzhi tried to go to the place he went when looking at his Qi Channel or when trying to become a cultivator.
And there he found the Ginseng. He tried to touch it, but when he did, the world spun and before he knew it, he was in a vaguely familiar space.
The world around him was black, but he was able to see the sun and the moon, but they were the ones of his original planet, Earth.
And just as he expected, there, in front of him, was this blue giant ball, inhabited by 10 billion people. He tried to get closer to it, but traveling felt incredibly difficult and soon, he was forced to leave this space, not truly being able to explore it.
"How interesting." The smile on Yuzhi's face was large, very large.
This Ginseng was like a lantern showing him the path he would need to search for if he wanted to find out answers to questions like. How did he get here? Why him? Are the other people?
But he knew that it would benefit him a lot, this was a tool that could be the most important factor on his cultivation road.
"Of course, this Ginseng is just my tool, it will never be me." Yuzhi jumped from the rock, landing in what previously was a lake with water, but now without.
He went home, and packed a few things inside a sack, before going to sleep.
Then very early in the morning, before the sun was even up, left the house, only leaving behind a note, showing that even though he didn't like them a lot, he had respect for them. Even though it wasn't much.
Well, maybe a bit more than Yuzhi himself wanted to admit, he wrote the note in a way that could provide the family with a bit of closure, even though it wasn't a lot.
Before leaving the Stoney Leaf Village, he had one more place to go.
The Training Ground.
"Elder Xiang, are you still awake?" Yuzhi knocked on the gate, and while he asked, he already knew the answer.
"Of course, you think I wouldn't know what you want to do." Only after a while of silence did Xiang Xin answer.
Yuzhi opened the gate, seeing Xiang Xin still in the same position he was in as when Yuzhi left. "Elder Xiang, I have decided to leave the village and explore the world".
"Of all my students, you are neither the most talented nor the strongest, but you will do something none of them dared. Explore the unknown." Xiang Xin looked at the sky, remembering the short time he spent with this kid.
"The world is large, dangerous, and mysterious. The path you walk is neither for me to decide nor to judge, so I won't give you any advice." Despite the moment, Xiang Xin was still successful in acting grumpy.
"I thank Elder Xiang for his wise words and advice." Yuzhi bowed to him, paying his respects.
"Don't act sincere when you're not." Leaving these as the last words exchanged by both of them, Yuzhi left the training ground and set off to Stone Frost City.
He looked back one more time to Stoney Leaf Village.
He didn't feel emotional, the time he had truly spent there was not enough to feel strong emotions from leaving it.
But still, the place had managed to form a small nest in his heart.
The mysteries of the village would remain, even if he left, the people there could die at any moment. The entire village could disappear withing days.
But despite all that, Yuzhi knew the influence this small village had on him.
Yuzhi, his pink hair fluttering on the wind, and his golden eyes acting as the sun that hadn't risen yet. The strong legs of a horse doing all the work Yuzhi wasn't
On the 25th of August, Yuzhi finally arrived at the Stone Frost City.