The forest behind the Respite Caves was large. There was enough room in there for even wandering beasts to establish their own territories, like bears, and for the territorial beasts to roam within their borders, like wolves. This was no accident. The Sect Master of the Immortal Pursuit Demonic Sect had intentionally bordered the forest as such.
The foresight to plan for a farm was given to one out of every twenty men by the Heavens. However, among twenty men who could plan farms, how many could plan Mystical Beast breeding forests? Among twenty such groups, one man would ever emerge. The Sect Master was one such man. His foresight and planning were fathomless to the average person.
Simply by using the nature of Mystical Beasts, he had not only bred them intentionally, but he had even made sure the numbers would never be a problem by making two different kinds of beasts compete along with sending new recruits to fight them constantly.
The only flaw here was the rate of harvest. This forest was no farm. Mystical Beasts were extremely dangerous, clever, and lethal, especially in such large numbers. They would group up and kill anyone that was strong enough to hunt a few of them securely, but they would flee the forest if someone overwhelmingly powerful started culling them. So the answer was in using it as a method to test new recruits, and simply purchase the bounty of the hunts with internal currency.
The Pursuit Coin was invented to manage internal value. The Sect Members would lack real currency to establish an outside force or perform transactions with foreign groups, but the trade between Sect Members and the Sect could commence easily. As the services that could be purchased for Pursuit Coins were internal, the Sect would never lose its economic foothold or be a victim of inflating currency. This was the plan that Sect Master had come up with decades ago when the Immortal Pursuit Demonic Sect was first founded, the proof of his genius.
Tian Mingyun was trying to understand such systems and goals simply by deduction as a ten year old, his headache was sharp. But Yanku Zhimei, who had an easier time explaining things in a few words, already had a rough grasp in her mind.
"We are like fish that have already been trapped. We are being sorted in the kitchen now. Huo Lan and Shupi Juren are special, so they got sorted separately and are getting special attention. Tian Mingyun managed to get partial attention from an Instructor, same with Huoli Yue, but it depends on their performance. Most of the rest here, including Huoli Jingzi, Hou Yun and me are likely just bait." She had a stern yet calm expression as she pointed at the forest.
"Forget Cultivation, most of the kids here will simply die trying to hunt some Mystical Beasts. Being one of those white clothed slaves means you are the leftover bait who survived but was not good enough to cook and eat. We have to not only survive here and earn some Pursuit Coins but have to Cultivate on top of that just to be footsoldiers... Ahhh... Why couldn't I just stay in my family theatre? Why did I have to get captured as a slave?" After getting the full picture, she finally started complaining.
She kept complaining, stomping her feet and puffing her cheeks, openly groaning about it. She missed her family. She wanted to see if Shupi Juren was okay. She wanted to sleep in a good bed. But she then just sighed and took the boar and rabbit pelt over her shoulder and started collecting some long grass.
"Well, we can make some beds and pillows if we keep hunting stuff like this and filling them with hay, at least. Huoli Yue looks like the kind of girl who can clean up and smoke the pelts. We just gotta stick together." She smiled, showing to others that she was not giving up yet.
The entire group knew that Yanku Zhimei spoke and groaned in their stead as well. They did not have the time to even cry and complain despite being kids. They just had to get moving.
Huoli Jingzi and Huoli Yue would be the ones to hunt today, but they were only allowed to leave after a long talk with the others. They were to enter the forest late, avoid noise, and directly flee if confronted by any Mystical Beasts. Luckily, there would at least be no issue of trust between the two of them as they were siblings. While they were gone, the rest would take care of chores and try to study their Cultivation Techniques.
Huoli Jingzi was leading his sister into the forest, they knew that the forest presented both great fortune and danger at the same time. They would need to rely upon it for food while making sure to return alive. Fortunately, Huoli Jingzi was at least able to arm himself with a couple of bone shivs made from the boar that was hunted yesterday.
He made sure to stick close to his sister and speak to ease the tension as they walked, making sure that his eyes were always on the path ahead so that he could see any incoming dangers.
"So, sister, why did you go along with that creepy suggestion? I did not want to say much earlier since others were around, but I have to ask now. You, who respected the death so much that you went along with the difficult Shaman training, suddenly Cultivating such an unnatural path... I can not help but be worried." Huoli Jingzi never minced his words with his sister, they had cared for one another while being brutally honest with each other at each twist and turn in their lives.
Huoli Yue clutched her fists while thinking of how to respond to her brother. She finally spoke with a strained voice, as if she was doing her best not to yell out of emotion.
"You remember how we could not give a proper burial to father, right? Shamans, elders, and even our other relatives did not touch him since he died of a skin illness, afraid that it would spread. " She did not have to finish the story, her brother picked up from there.
"We made a shoddy funeral pyre, just the two of us. It was hard since we were smaller then. I had to add wood to the fire for hours while smelling that sharp scent of burning human hair." He had his back turned to his sister, so he had no trouble hiding his flowing tears. His sister spoke while pretending not to notice the teardrops falling from his chin.
"You were born without hair, I had a burn when I was small. People thought it was some sort of curse without skin. So I thought if I became a Burial Rites Shaman, I could both clear our name and give people like our dad proper burials. I studied and trained hard, I still do not regret a day of that. But, one can only be dignified if they are alive. Even if this Cultivation Technique is disgraceful, we will survive if I manage to reach a certain level with it. Even if I have to insult the dead, I will be alive by your side. I can repent once we are free, but we should both just focus on surviving until then." She was glad her brother was walking ahead of her, unable to see her crying face.
Huoli Jingzi and Huoli Yue both walked for a while, expressing the troubles that had piled on so far and finding solace in one another's presence. This was how they had managed to live on in this harsh world. Huoli Jingzi would not say it as openly as his sister, but he would sooner kill a thousand kids than see his sister die.
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However, even such little solace was not allowed here. The forest suddenly grew quiet and Huoli Jingzi grasped the bone shivs in his hands. Out of the bushes came out a bear, a normal beast by the looks of it, yet still a terrifyingly large and intimidating creature.
The bear looked starved, its ribs clear for all to see pressed so tightly to the surface of its skin. The eyes of the bear had also turned a deep red, clearly, it was denied both food and rest for a long time. Yet, this only served to motivate it at the moment, it did not growl or give any warning as it suddenly pounced on Huoli Jingzi.
The main reason why Huoli Jingzi was clearly acknowledged as someone talented with weapons was due to how he managed to not break his weapons, no matter how shoddy they were. He had never held s steel sword, yet he made the best out of whatever shoddy weapons he had found or been served up by his sister. Huoli Jingzi could hold a rusty kitchen knife with its handle missing, and manage to use it without chipping the blade.
Huoli Jingzi's shoddy bone shivs found purchase in the bear's sturdy hide and he quickly moved to the side, abandoning one shiv in the bear's armpit while holding onto the other shiv after some shallow stabs. He did not look at how injury he sustained himself, the heat of the moment was dulling his pain enough. His sister did not scream or panic either, she instead distracted the beast by fluttering her robes. They could not make much noise, being ambushed during or after this fight was more dangerous than the fight itself.
The bear was pained, its front left leg was no longer usable as the bone shiv in its armpit blocked all movement with sharp surges of pain. However, it was already a starving and dying beast. Right now, he would either eat the two prey in front of it or die trying, so he swiped at the fluttering and moving one with its claw. To its shock, his claw went through as if going through the air, the fluttering cloth not being a part of Huoli Yue's body, to the bear's surprise.
This was enough of a distraction for Huoli Jingzi, he used the one bone shiv he had left and slid its sharpened tıp against the ribs of the bear, opening a long yet shallow cut on its skin. The moment the animal reflexively turned its body the other way around to protect the wound, Huoli Jingzi hid behind his sister's robes.
There was no need to speak between the two of them. Huoli Yue understood her brother's intent and started slowly stepping back while the injured beast got forced into charging in to get to its prey again. Huoli Yue then simply leaped to the side, leaving her brother with the chance to leap upwards from below the charging beast, forcing the shiv up into its neck.
Huoli Yue understood this was her brother's intention when he crouched as soon as he hid behind her. But it did not make her body hurt any less when she so hurriedly threw herself to the side to dodge the bear. Her legs were trembling from pain as she had impacted against a tree with her thighs during her leap. Her brother did not fare much better while standing beside the dying beast. His sides had small and large cuts from struggling against the bear, some cute from claws and others from branches and bushes.
Huoli Jingzi's hands were trembling from mental exhaustion. He wanted to just sit down and rest his eyes after not even blinking and thinking so fast ever since he first saw the bear. However, he had no such luxury. He had to think of a way back as well. They could not simply abandon the bear after risking life and limb to hunt it.
The siblings arrived back to the cave in an odd state due to Huoli Jingzi's solution. They were carrying the bear carcass from under it, hunched over with it on their backs, and both tired beyond measure. Huoli Jingzi thought that they could only do it like this if they wanted others to avoid them, mistaking them for a bear from afar.
Tian Mingyun and the others were happy to see them and their huge haul, but they first had to be cared for. Yanku Zhimei tended to Huoli Yue while Tian Mingyun tended to Huoli Jingzi, even shoddy first aid and cleaning their wounds with water would help right now. Hou Yun was delegated to butchering the bear. He sadly only had shoddy bone knives to aid him.
That night they all gathered together in one of the caves while eating bear meat. Nobody commented on the taste, whether it was tough to chew or not. They all simply ate to their fullest while using the poor quality rice and grain they were all given as a side dish. Hou Yun was the first to finish his bowl and speak.
"We must all reach at least Skin Refinement Realm in order to avoid injury. Let's simply eat the bear and focus on our studies, the forest is too risky if we are injured so easily." Hou Yun did not insult Huoli Jingzi, nor did he praise Tian Mingyun. He simply spoke of their needs and offered a plan.
Huoli Jingzi was the one that replied while pressing one hand over his injuries.
"We need to risk it all and hunt a Mystical Beast after doing so. There will be no survival without proper tools here. However, that in itself is an issue. I am certain I could kill a bear with a sword or a spear in hand, but there is no way I can harm a Mystical Beast before I become a Cultivator. The same goes for the off chance we meet other kids there who are already Cultivators. How are we to fight, or even flee?" He had done a great deed today, but the pain of injury had only made him see the truth of his situation with less arrogance.
Yanku Zhimei did not speak. She did not dare claim that the Body Arts that she and Hou Yun were so proud of would be of much help against Mystical Beasts. Neither of them had any experience fighting such creatures to be able to speak with any certainty. But, Tian Mingyun spoke.
"I will do my best to make you all finish Circulation. We will all benefit if we can survive here more easily so that we can leave these caves stronger than others. I am sure all of you have noticed that they will make slaves out of us if we manage to survive all of this but end up weak when our time is due. Before the bear meat runs out, I will teach you all to the best of my abilities." Tian Mingyun was certain that they could survive. He had chosen his group well, he had another person in mind to invite to his group, but it would have to wait for now. They had to first survive this hurdle.
Tian Mingyun and his friends did not know just how many kids had died in the forest already, they were simply determined to survive. Huoli Jingzi and Huoli Yue's victory went uncelebrated, none of them had the time or energy to even smile. All of their focus was instead spent on recovering, studying, and improving. They would all eat the remains of this bear and try to become Cultivators before they had to hunt again.
However, the concerns of Tian Mingyun who was already a Skin Refinement Realm Cultivator laid elsewhere. He was afraid there was not much fat to harvest from a starved bear, so he barely hid his impatience and anxiety as he focused his mind on teaching the others.