“… …” With those words, Gao Butian turned silent.
Allen was still smiling as if everything is fine, “Why don’t we make it like this. As compensation, why don’t I help you find another snake monster? In any case, we are heading for the capital…”
Gao Butian stared blankly a moment as if thinking about the proposal.
“Really?!” The young lady, on the other hand, was rather straight forward. Her tone immediately beamed with joy upon hearing Allen’s words.
Allen nodded.
The young lady raised her head and stared at Allen, she discovered Allen’s gaze was extremely clear, without any impurity. He clearly said really wasn’t false.
“Great! You better not go back to your words!”
Allen should be extremely strong since he had managed to tame these kinds of monsters, so the young lady was eager for them to join them.
This forest is just too dangerous; she realized it... in a hard way.
If not for her father’s strong martial arts and magical wine cauldron, they would have already died a long time ago.
Although most of the time, they were running away especially from strong looking monsters. kj
Thus, Allen’s company is extremely welcome for her!
--- ---
Under the father-daughter pair’s shocked expression, Allen absorbed the monsters; Tiaowen, Mei nu, Madam White and the newly acquired monster [ Cloud Serpent ] into the summoning grimoire.
Seeing this fantastical scene where four huge monsters disappeared in thin air, young lady Gao was flabbergasted. She really couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Allen also withdraws Tiaowen and Mei nu because of Gao Butian and his daughter’s existence. Since they were walking, it would be shameless if they were the only ones riding a mount, right?
Although he could lend them some mount, Allen wasn’t that kind enough to do it, might as well walk together with them.
Led by Allen, Tang Yu, Gao Butian and his daughter started walking through the forest.
The forest was really vast and boundless.
Within it, the group could see ancient looking trees that looked like centuries or millennia-old, blotting out the landscape. All sorts of various grasses filled the land, and thistles and thorns were equally commonplace.
Dry leaves covered the land, with each step, they crackled and popped and Ancient vines and weeds could be seen everywhere.
“Looking at all this for the first time, I almost thought that I had been transported to another world. I really didn’t know how this forest turns into something like this.” Young lady Gao grew apprehensive. “… They looked so old, though they just turned into this a few months ago.”
“That’s because of the world’s changing; in fact maybe some of these trees truly aren’t from this world. Along with the landscape, they might have also transported from another world.” Allen answered.
Although they were talking, young lady Gao, as well as her father, was actually quietly observing Allen and Tang Yu’s every action. After all, they know how dangerous this forest has become and even they couldn’t help but feel vigilant the entire time they were here.
However, they were surprised to see Allen’s casual actions and although Tang Yu sometimes shows a bit of vigilance, they were completely carefree compared to them. It’s as if they were just strolling in their backyard, completely at ease and unconcerned about the surrounding.
It might be just him pretending to be tough but as a master, how would he not know if someone is pretending or not? His actions, his movements, every behavior he had shown, all of this were certainly not faked and this surprised Gao Butian.
Either this guy is an idiot and fearless or he was confident that no matter what monsters showed up he would be able to defeat them. But is he really that strong?
At this moment, the image of a huge white scaled snake appeared inside Gao Butian’s mind.
Is Allen, confident because he had that strong monster?
“Young lady Gao, are you also practicing the Drunken fist?” Allen curiously asked, not minding what the others are thinking about him.
“Young master, please just call this servant Zuquan,” Young lady Gao said respectfully. She now saw Allen in a new light.
“Lady Zuquan, so polite.” Allen smiled. “Just call this young master, Wushuang then. Hmm, I actually forgot to introduce myself, so impolite of me.”
“This young master’s surname is Ye, given name Wushuang.” Allen bowed amiably like a real aristocrat. “And this is my companion, Tang Yu.”
“Fortunate meeting.” Tang Yu nodded her head.
“Fortunate meeting, young master Ye, young miss Tang, my surname’s Gao, given name Zuquan.” Lady Gao also did the same.
“Are you from the Ye family? And the young lady over there, are you a disciple of Tang Sect.” Gao Butian asked curiously after hearing their names.
Allen smiled but shook his head, “I’m not from the Ye Family.”
Although the Ye family wasn’t a member of the [ Thirteen Aristocratic Family ], Ye was still as famous as the other families.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Producing a genius talent in every generation, proud and courageous generals and successful business men, Ye Family stood alongside the thirteen aristocratic families as a prestigious and noble family.
As for the reason why Allen used the surname ‘Ye’, it’s none other than because it’s Ye Yuesheng’s surname and not the least bit related to the Ye Family.
“I am indeed once a disciple of the Tang Sect but I already cut ties with them.” Tang Yu answered indifferently.
“Oh?”
Allen turned his gaze at lady Zuquan and asked; “Lady Zuquan, so are you also practicing the drunken fist? Are you a cultivator?””
“Young master Ye, indeed I am. In fact, I’m already at a middle apprentice stage, close to breaking through to the peak stage.” Lady Gao proudly answered.
Indeed, she has the qualifications to feel proud.
Although not as fast as genius level talents that had already managed to break through the Master realm, but she was still quite praiseworthy and above the norm, if she managed to advance like this only after two to three months. Her talents could be considered good.
“What about young master Ye, I’m sure that you had already reached Master realm. Truly a dragon among men.”
Allen smiled. “Unfortunately, I am not a cultivator but a superhuman.”
“A superhuman?”
“It means that I’m cultivating from a different power system,” Allen explained. “Unlike you, we don’t need to cultivate.”
“That’s amazing!” Gao Butian and Gao Zuquan was startled.
Doesn’t need to cultivate?
This was the first time they had heard about this. This was natural since there’s no outsider that had visited China yet, except for Allen.
Their culture is completely different from the western ones, and that same goes for the power system.
“However, although we don’t need to stay inside a cave, using all our time cultivating, our way of advancement is much dangerous compared to you since we rely on fighting and killing monsters to gain experience points. Of course, the stronger the monster is, the higher the experience points we get and vice versa. If the monster is weaker compared to us, the experience points we gain is also not much.” Allen explained with a bitter tone.
“Not all Superhumans get strong superpowers, so only a few are capable of defeating monsters and increasing their levels. But it’s not like weak powers are useless, I believe that it only depends on the people using it. I believe not blaming the tool but blame the craftsman’s skills instead.”
Gao Butian and Gao Zuquan listened carefully. After all, this was new information.
“So you won’t advance if you don’t fight?”
“That’s right. Although it is also the same for cultivators because they still advance well, albeit slowly compared to superhumans after defeating strong monsters, but they could still choose to cultivate by closing themselves for a long time. That’s somehow safe compared to us,”
“Is that so, I guess cultivating is easier then.”
“Well, they did say that everything has advantages and disadvantages. Although risking our lives is a disadvantage but there are also advantages. For example, we could increase our levels much faster than you cultivators if we defeat strong monsters and every level up, just like cultivators who slowly strengthen their bodies from cultivation and increase your lifespan, us Superhumans were also the same.”
“With every increased level, our lifespan also increased and strengthen our body instantly without any kind of tempering just like you do.”
“So in short, our strength greatly relied on leveling up.”
“However, in the end, each system is just the same. Whether it’s cultivation or Superhuman, risk and opportunity always go together.” Allen concluded his explanation.
He shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.
Affected by Allen’s carefree mood, the group unknowingly released their vigilance and started walking casually through the huge forest, enjoying many exotic flora and beasts.
Most unusual are the four-armed monkeys, wolves with alligator’s head and some strange insects such as 6 winged large butterflies and 12 winged dragonflies that breathe fire.
Time and time again, Gao Butian and lady Gao Zuquan started getting numbed from surprises they were getting from Allen.
Although Tang Yu is pretty strong herself, Gao Butian and Gao Zuquan realized that Allen’s strength was from another realm.
And this didn't include his Monsters...
With the ability to release and control electricity, he was certainly a monster in human clothing!
However, with Allen and Tang Yu’s help, the trip inside the forest wasn’t as thrilling as one would expect. Unfortunately, they had never encountered any snake type monsters; mostly feral wolves, monkeys, bears, insects and some plant type monsters.
There were also very high 5 to 10 meter stalked flower that according to Allen was edible and taste good. They tried and he wasn’t lying. It truly is edible and even tasted sweet like a candy.
Strange monsters, superpowers, strange plants and 50 to 70-meter trees towering above, one would really realize that the world had really turned into something crazy and difficult to understand.
It is all very pungent, intense, overwhelming and breathtaking…
--- ---
The path Allen and the others were walking on was an animal trail in the middle of the forest. On top of that, there were a lot of ups and downs on the trail, so it was hard work for a normal human but for cultivators, it was nothing but a light stroll.
The light has started getting dimmer by the minute signifying the setting of the sun.
Like Rubellite Tourmaline, the sky was dyed by a mix of vibrant pink and ruby red color with a violet tint, giving it a beautiful yet somewhat eerie flavor.
Allen decided to stop for the day and rest, although he wasn’t scared about traveling at night, it was still dangerous for the others.
As they were looking for some good place to rest, suddenly a loud roar echoed through the whole forest.
“What is that?” lady Gao asked as she trembled.
“Some wolf, I guess!” Allen nonchalantly answered.
“Are you insane or just an idiot,” lady Gao spoke with anger. “That’s obviously not just a wolf”
Allen smiled and looked towards another direction completely opposite from where they were heading.
Rumble!!
The ground suddenly began to shake ever so slightly. Based on the rumbling rhythm, Allen surmised that it should’ve been caused by something walking.
“What is going on?” Lady Gao fretted as she felt the shaking.
“Quiet,” Tang Yu, on the other hand, was quite calm. She was standing beside Allen, her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed. She prepared herself to act the moment she felt needed.
As for the drunken Old man Gao Butian, he was still drinking but his eyes similarly narrowed, looking at the direction where Allen and Tang Yu was looking.
He reached his hand and dragged Gao Zuquan behind him, extremely vigilant.
“We had visitors,” Allen jokingly said.
At this a moment, a dark shadow appeared.
“It’s coming” As soon as he uttered those words a very large monster appeared.
It was as big as an elephant with a massive axe in its right arm. The creature has a greenish skin and has a scary face with huge canine teeth.
It leaped a couple of meters and with a ‘Bang!’ and landed in between the two group; Allen, Tang Yu, and in the other side, Gao Butian and his daughter Gao Zuquan.
Roooaaarrr!!
It let out a deafening roar before it sweeps its huge axe in one full swing. It was very fast and powerful.
At the right moment, Allen grabbed Tang Yu’s collar and jumped away while Gao Butian tackled his daughter to the side, completely avoiding the huge axe.
“Young master?!” Tang Yu was too slow to react and if not for Allen, she would have been hit by that axe. Although it wouldn’t kill her in an instant, she would certainly receive a fatal cut.
The monster was just too fast and the things happened in a quick manner.
“Tang Yu, you still need to work in your reflexes.” The moment they landed, Allen reprimanded her in a soft voice.
“I’m completely ashamed.” Tang Yu’s face flushed as she hung her head down. She prepared herself but the monster was just too fast for the current her. She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She has shown her master a shameful sight.
Allen smiled faintly and reached his hand out, gently stroking Tang Yu’s hair. She was completely being treated like a child, Tang Yu was ashamed at the same felt happy.
Roooaaarr!!
The monster once again lets out a loud roar.