It was a bright and cheerful morning. The birds were singing along with a rustling sound of footsteps as a few travelers were slowly making their way towards their destinations. The gentle wind carrying with a slight coldness as the winter was drawing ever so close, while pellets of snow was beginning to paint the world in an everlasting hue white.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of rough footsteps rang in the distance, as the shadow of a man soon became visible within a snowy path surrounded by dense trees. This man had long red hair and was wearing a tattered looking gray robe. Hoisted to his side was a black sheath holding a long sword with a black hilt.
It's been one day since the celebration of a new friendship that both Feng Yu and Hui Ying shared through liquor at a tavern. After parting ways, Hui Ying decided to travel to his home to handle some personal matters before heading towards the Talent Selection, while Feng Yu chose to head straight home by traveling the fastest and shortest route.
"Whew! After traveling for less than half a day, I've already covered more than half the distance. It seems that I've gotten quite fast. At this pace, even if I were to take occasional resting periods such as this, I'll be able to reach home by the nightfall." Feng Yu said as he casually looked around at his surroundings.
As he was traveling, he was also consolidating his knowledge from the battle with the Golden Furred Ape King and the sword techniques he used. Occasionally, he would wave his fingers causing a small amount of sword energy to shoot towards trees and rocks within the surroundings, creating splits and gaps within every object they contacted. It was fortunate that he took the less populated path to travel home, as he would have been a disaster in human form towards regular travelers.
Inside of his consciousness, a tiny sword was floating below a giant black orb. It was about 9 inches tall with streams of energy traveling towards it from a hovering sword manual. Inspecting the sword seed, Feng Yu began to ponder.
"Hmm, my sword foundation is still lacking, although my techniques have improved after the battle. I have still yet to reach the level where using the sword is like an extension of myself. This must be the reason why my sword seed has remained stagnant at 9 inches; despite being increased by a great amount from the battle with the Golden Furred Ape King. It seems that I should try to use the remaining days while I'm home to integrate my
"Speaking of ape, I wonder if he managed to escape that scene. If he did, it would be troublesome to find him in the future. Sigh, I guess I'll have to keep an extra layer of vigilance," he muttered softly.
Soon, he came to a vast region that was about 15 meters wide. There were tall trees that surrounded each of the corners, and the current pathway was connected to a smaller channel located at the end of the region only about a few meters wide. It seems that this area was one that random travelers choose to rest, as a few spots with abandoned tents and pots were placed in those areas.
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Looking around at those spots closely, Feng Yu began to feel something strange as the area seemed to have recently been used.
"Could it be that these individuals have left so quickly because of some sort of danger, or were it that they wanted to remove excess weight to speed up their travels?" While pondering this, Feng Yu had already arrived at the center of the ample space.
Swoosh! Suddenly, his ear twitched and with a movement of his body, he transformed into a blur as he backed up a few meters away from the central position.
BANG!
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
Following a massive explosion, four figures instantly dashed out from the surrounding trees. Each of these figures was wearing a black hooded cloak, and underneath their hoods, their eyes gleamed with a sharp and ruthless light as they looked towards Feng Yu.
Realising that the men had already surrounded all his escape routes, Feng Yu stayed calm as he observed these individuals.
"Timely activating an explosive talisman that was set beforehand, I do not believe that you are bandits. Who are you and who sent you here?" While saying this, Feng Yu kept his guard up as he already had a clue as to who could have sent these people.
Seeing their target trapped like a rabbit before their eyes, the hooded figures sneered at him in their hearts as they had already started to view him as they would a corpse.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The sound of clapping began to resound throughout the silent space as a man dressed in luxurious clothing soon walked out from within the surrounding trees. He had an average semblance and deep within his eyes was a cunning and ruthless intent.
"Good! Good! Brother Feng, your improvement is truly astounding. Truly indeed a Top-Tier Talent. If I didn't see you avoid my family's grade 1 burst talisman, I would not have believed it." He said this while smiling as if he just found his long-lost friend.
Seeing the figure appear before him, the memories deep within Feng Yu's mind began to churn as a wave of killing intent started to shine from the very depths of his soul. However, on the outside, he only looked on with an even calmer expression.
"Huan Shan! Heaven has given you a chance, yet, here you came looking for the door to hell yourself. I have to wonder whether you're prepared to face the consequences for the foolish actions you guys have done at our last meeting?" Feng Yu said as he looked at Huan Shan with a smile on his face.
Hearing his statement, a look of surprise came on the faces of the surrounding men, but soon laughter began to fill the surroundings.
"Hahaha! Feng Yu, did you also learn a sense of humor? A great talent you are indeed. I wonder, what kind of cultivation can a 'Supreme Talent' like yours have in such a short time span for you to have become so arrogant. Even if there were to be some godly miracle and you had attained a high cultivation base, how could you defeat the remaining guards that I have brought with me here today? I'll have you know that each of their cultivations is above the 7th Tier of Body Training realm, and, if I didn't lose more than half of my men due that Damn demon incident, there would be more men at an even higher tier." Huan Shan sneered as he bantered away in mock towards Feng Yu.
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