Akata made his way through Misty Forest. As he was running out of the forest he tried to contemplate the Shadowfeet technique he just received. It only took a little bit of thought to gain a basic understanding of the technique. Since the Fanged Monkey blood was running through his veins, the skill was literally imprinted in his blood.
He utilized the skill and his body turned into a shadow and sped forward about ten meters in an instant. The speed was even faster than when the Fanged Monkey had used it. Akata was delighted and used the skill continuously to reach the training field at an alarming speed. He slowed down when he approached though and stopped using it. He wanted to keep this skill a secret from others and use it as a trump card.
When he stepped out of the forest it was nighttime and few disciples were in the training field. For the one’s that were on the field, when they saw Akata step out of the forest they were astonished.
“Isn’t that Akata? Why is he stepping out of the forest, where has he been?”
“He disappeared after the meteor came down. I always thought the Sect Leader took him.”
“This is the second time I’ve seen him exit Misty Forest. Is he training in there or something?”
Questions and comments popped up from the few disciples still on the training field who caught sight of him. It was one thing to test out how dangerous Misty Forest is, and for the most part people who made it back out, wouldn’t go back in. But Akata, after being missing for over a week, actually showed back up exiting the forest. And he didn’t seem the least bit bewildered by anything like he was just taking a stroll through.
To Akata right now, going through Misty Forest truly was like taking a stroll. Not only was his body strength above most of the cultivation levels of the creatures in the forest, but his skills made it so that he improved after each fight. You could say that a place like Misty Forest was the perfect training grounds for Akata. With different types of blood he could get more skills and grow in strength.
He made his way across the training field towards Ming Lu’s cabin. He didn’t bother with question regarding him as he wanted others to keep on guessing. He thought it would make him seem more mysterious and cool.
Soon he was at the second cabin and walked towards the second cabin’s personal arena grounds. He went to the arena and sat down cross legged in the middle of it. He wasn’t meditating or recovering, but instead was connecting with his surroundings.
He felt the wind buffeting his face, he felt the blades of grass sway in the air, he felt the moon shine on him. He was really in touch with nature as of this moment.
Soon the first rays of sunlight could be seen stretching out over the mountains. The sensation of warmth covered over Akata and made him feel refreshed. It was a delightful feeling especially since he was attune with nature. He felt the great sensation and then felt that somebody approaching him. He focused all his attention on this person, and soon saw that it was Ming Lu. His eyes were closed so he couldn’t truly see this person but instead felt its aura through nature.
Akata opened his eyes and stood up then clasped hands and bowed towards Ming Lu. Ming Lu was actually caught off guard by this. At first when she walked out of her cabin she didn’t sense anybody around but still had the feeling somebody was there. She started looking around but still couldn’t find anybody, in the midst of looking around she suddenly saw Akata standing up.
‘Just what kind of training did he put himself through to connect with the environment this soon. Normal people take a month or more to begin sensing the environment, but he actually connected with it? That should be a process which takes months. Although he hasn’t fully connected with it, he has made some major progress. He should be around Little Xu Xu’s skill in it.’ Ming Lu immediately pondered this when she noticed Akata. She then stopped thinking on the matter and brought her attention to Akata.
“I actually wasn’t expecting you to progress this far in attuning yourself with nature. It’s not that I wasn’t expecting you to be able to, it’s just that you did it so quickly. You actually saved month's worth of training for yourself, so because of that I have to change up the training regimen.”
Akata was actually a bit surprised by this. He wasn’t expecting that connecting with nature would take so long. He then mused to himself lightly, ‘No wonder it felt like I wouldn’t connect with nature in a short time when I was meditating on it. It’s a good thing I’m impatient.’ Ming Lu looked closely at Akata and then began to speak again.
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“This new training isn’t meant for advancing in cultivation or for improving your body. This training’s first goal is to teach you the ways of survival. You’ll go back into Misty Forest and head as deep as you can towards the center. Go as far as you can and stay there for two months time. Each time you feel that you can tread deeper then do so. If you haven’t reached the center by two months then stay longer until you do so. Normal people would think this is crazy but you have already spent quite a bit of time in Misty Forest and have also learned to hide your presence by connecting with nature. Only by repeated use can you improve upon this and by experiencing deadly situations can you learn to survive better.” It was then that Ming Lu stopped speaking and looked deeply at Akata.
Akata had his mouth gaped open and his eyes wide at the sound of Ming Lu’s words. She wanted him to spend two months in the most dangerous place in the city? Not only that but she wanted him to go to the very center of it. That was where the strongest beasts were located. Akata’s mind was racing through many things as he thought about this, ‘She’s crazy, a psycho, she wants me dead, why would she do this, did we have enmity in the past life?’ As Akata was lost in thought Lu Ming spoke up again.
“I’ll give you a week’s worth of rest first, and as for that spar between you and me, you’ll have to earn it. Make your way through the cabin’s until you can get the chance to fight me fair and square. And don’t hurt my sister too badly will you.” With that she turned to leave heading for her cabin.
Akata wasn’t a dumb child, he instantly knew what Ming Lu meant. She wanted him to get to know his strength through repeated battles with strong people in order to know his limit when he goes into the forest. Akata’s eyes filled with a fighting will and he walked off. Not towards Misty Forest or his room, but towards the tenth cabin!
It was daytime now and more disciples were on the field. When they saw that Akata was heading towards the tenth cabin, exclamations of surprise resounded.
“Is that Akata when did he get back? Is he heading towards the tenth cabin?”
“He walked out of Misty Forest last night, I think he was training in there.”
“Training in Misty Forest is he crazy?! And if so does he think he has enough strength to challenge the cabins?”
“Well he has been training under Demoness Ming Lu, so he should have an understanding of the power of the cabins.”
“Even so he’s only been training for less than a month. And a month before he wasn’t even in the Mortal Rank.”
Conversations bellowed out everywhere and soon a crowd was following Akata towards the tenth cabin. Akata didn’t care about them, right now his goal was to get strong enough to challenge Ming Lu and then the number 1 spot. After that he planned to leave this place.
“Once I leave I’ll have the whole world as my training ground to get stronger. I’ll truly be a free cultivator that can grow stronger than anyone under the sun.” Akata had a smile on his face and his red eyes flashed with desire. His black spiky hair hung to his neck and flew with the wind. He truly looked as free as could be.
It took around a little more than half an hour to get to the tenth cabin, and that was when Akata started running towards it with a fighting will. Of course he wasn’t using his full speed or the Shadowfeet technique otherwise the time would have been way shorter. But even then he left some of the disciples in the dust, and others had to use their full speed to stay with him. Only a few didn’t have to go all out to keep up with his speed.
“What speed?!”
“No wonder he is able to stay alive in Misty Forest, if I had that speed I would train in there too.”
The disciples following him were truly astonished. It must be said that Akata wasn’t even in the Mortal Rank until a month ago, so everybody was faster than him. Now though he was leaving most of the disciples in the dust.
Soon he arrived at the tenth cabin’s arena. The tenth cabin’s arena was the only one to possess a bell to challenge the tenth ranked person, as this was the only person anyone could challenge of the ten ranks. Akata rung the bell signalling that he wanted to challenge the tenth ranked person of the sect.
The rest of the disciples stood on the side of the arena waiting for the tenth ranked person to come out. They were all waiting to see what would happen. It is true that Akata was the weakest among them just a month ago, but then he went through so much. He was the target of an assassination and then survived, he became the apprentice of Demoness Ming Lu, and he even trained in Misty Forest twice! At their level of cultivation they weren’t able to assess what cultivation Akata was at but they knew he wasn’t weak anymore.
But even if he went through all of that, he has only been in the Mortal Rank for a month. And he was still challenging the tenth strongest person in the sect. No matter how you looked at it this duel was going to be a wild one. Everybody stood for anticipation for the duel that was going to take place in a few moments.
Soon the door to the tenth cabin opened. Out of the door walked a young boy about 15-16 years old. He wore a grey robe and his face was covered, but you could still see his cold blue eyes. He didn’t look to be much a cultivator more like a thief instead. His gaze scanned the crowd until his eyes fell onto the person that rung the bell. In a rough voice he said a single word, “You?”
When the man stepped out the crowd went into an uproar. Voices and conversations flew out into the air as questions and comments floated out of their mouths.
“So Fang Zuwa is at the tenth rank right now? This should be his 12th time then. I honestly think he loses his battles on purpose to get kicked out.”
“He’s actually pretty strong, he even made it to the seventh rank before. How did he get all the way back down?”
The young man didn’t pay any attention to the crowd and solely focused his attention on Akata. At first he thought this was a joke but then he saw the fighting will and resolve in Akata’s burning eyes. He couldn’t help but be amazed by the passion from Akata.
He suddenly spoke in a loud clear voice, “I accept your challenge.” The voice cut off all conversations as the surrounding disciples focused their attention on the sparring platform.
Fang Zuwa stepped onto the platform and made his way to stand in front of Akata. He didn’t walk slowly yet he didn’t walk fast either. He walked so that he would save time in analyzing Akata further yet not waste time either. Soon he was in front of Akata. He didn’t put on an intimidating air as he was curious. But then he sighed and shook his head.
“I can’t see through your cultivation level at all. Tell me… what level is your cultivation at?” He said this in a curious tone that was sincere.
Akata looked deeply at him, he was actually surprised by how kind this man was being. He then spoke his next words clear and loud so everyone could hear. “I’m at the Mortal Rank Grade 2.”
Fang Zuwa simply nodded and said no further words. They both readied themselves and the fighting will in both of them sparked to life rustling the air a bit. They then charged at each other ready to fight.