“I know that you all want revenge for yesterday, and so do I. That is why we must cultivate even harder, train even more. The humiliation we suffered will be washed away in the future. However, for that, we must be alive and well.” The Heavens Will group had made it clear that they were quite willing to cripple them, so they had to take care.
Following that, they disbanded, only nine of ten core members remaining. The others, the Flying Snow Dojo disciples and Jiang Yao’s and Bei Lao’s friends, left to do their own things.
“There are many ways to earn contribution points, and there is also enough time. So you all should rest a bit more.” Yueshi spoke, observing their condition.
"Bah, you are the one who fell unconscious and now you are telling us that?" Yuan Yue made a displeased face. "The one that should be resting is you, I am in purr~fect condition." She laughed slightly at the end of her words.
“She is right.” Even Ling Tian Tian spoke, showing concern over his condition.
The others said nothing, but they were just as concerned. Yueshi had to admit that he felt moved by them and their words, however, he had no time to waste.
Shaking his head, he stretched while looking at them, swearing to never forget their concern and friendship.
He also knew that the others, particularly so his fellow dojo disciples, were just as concerned, and he was also grateful toward them.
"You don't need to worry, I feel great." He assured them. "What I need right now is training and more training… so that this stifling sensation in my heart can be washed away."
Mu Baiyun was the first to open his mouth. “Brother Yueshi, I admire your decision. They can break my bones but they cannot stop me from training and getting stronger.”
“Hm. We will also train and get stronger.” Qing Yueli spoke, nodding her head. She rarely spoke, but one could hear the deep determination behind her voice.
"You all…" Only Xuehua, watching as everyone around nodded, sighed. "Should I knock you unconscious so that you learn how to rest?" It hadn't even been an hour since she scolded Yueshi, and now things were like this.
At her words, everyone smiled. What could they do? For them, training was like drinking water - a must. They were geniuses, but their achievements did not come from staying still and idle and waiting for things to happen.
Moreover, after yesterday's battle, they had new inspirations, and the humiliation they suffered incensed their desire to get stronger.
There was no way they could just sit and do nothing.
Seeing such a scene, Xuehua could only give in. They were too strong-headed and she would not be able to change their mind, which was something she well aware of.
At the same time, she also felt the desire to get stronger, so that she could protect her brother.
'If I was stronger things would not have turned the way they did!' It was to the point she was martyring herself. And while she had thought about becoming stronger and changing their lives before, this was the first time she truly desired greater power.
After chatting for a bit more, they parted ways. And after giving her a random excuse, Yueshi separated from Xuehua. He wanted to spend time with her; however, this mission was a good chance to obtain combat experience and train.
Because of that, just as they separated from each other, he moved toward the outside of the village. Taking care to make sure no one was following him, he entered the forest, prepared to hunt alone and train his spear arts.
Soon, he completely disappeared into the verdant forest.
Because he was alone today, Yueshi moved slower and with more caution than when he was with the group.
The beast horde had made many demon beasts change their hunting ground, and from ten miles deep onward demon beasts could already be found.
While Yueshi was not afraid of the weaker beasts, he did not wish to get entangled with a pack.
Another motive for him to come to the forest was that it was rich in resources. Medicinal herbs and plants, as well as miraculous fruits rich in qi - all of which could increase his cultivation speed - could be found if he was lucky enough.
With how big the world was, there were many resources everywhere to be picked up. However, as it should be expected, nothing comes for free and the best of the items would be guarded by beasts, protect by packs, or even have self-defense mechanisms.
As he ran across the forest, Yueshi steps were firm but light and he took care to not make too much noise. There were a lot of sound-sensitive creatures, and he did not want to attract their attention and suffer a sneak attack.
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Soon, he found his first prey. Around a towering tree, there was a beast resembling a vine; its green scales shined under the sunlight, and its red eyes were deep and cruel.
Thinking for a moment, Yueshi decided to engage it; from what he could feel, the creature should be around the late-phase of the third stage.
Just as he stepped toward it, the monster seemed to feel his presence, its head moving toward his direction. The two pairs of eyes crossed mid-air as man and beast stared at each other.
Both saw the other as prey. Yueshi wanted to use the monster to grow stronger, while the beast wanted to use him to satiate its hunger.
After the two judged their opponent’s strength, making sure it was not stronger than them, they moved forward.
The serpent beast, a Vine Serpent, slithered from the tree toward Yueshi, slipping toward him while hissing.
Yueshi knew that at any moment it would strike, and if he did not focus, the snake would easily bite on his flesh, its sharp fangs tearing his body and poisoning his blood.
Yueshi grabbed his spear tightly and prepared himself to face it. He was not afraid, since he was confident that he could flee if things became bad.
Snakes were agile creatures and extremely flexible, however, it was also easy to deal with them because they could only slither to move.
If he climbed a tree and jumped from branch to branch, it would only be able to watch as he moved away. Even as big as this Vine Serpent was, it would not be able to catch him.
Suddenly, the snake lunged forward, its big mouth opening wide. Yueshi could see its two fangs glistening, a few droplets of poison falling from them on the grass, immediately corroding it.
Yueshi eyes narrowed for a moment. He was sure he did not want to feel that thing against his skin.
Channeling his qi to the spear, he thrust it forward. However, with the beast changing its trajectory mid-air, the strike only hit its scale and did not cause too much harm.
As Yueshi was preparing his second attack the snake tail came swiping toward him, tearing the air in its path. Yueshi did not doubt the power behind the strike and immediately rolled to the side to dodge.
Just as it passed above his head, he sprigged back up before thrusting his spear toward the snake's head.
The beast contorted its body and dodged it, before lunging forward toward Yueshi.
Noticing its surge, Yueshi swiped out, the shaft of his spear knocking against the scales of the creature and throwing it to the side. However, before he could even prepare himself, the monster jumped toward him once again.
--- - -
The battle against the snake was an uneventful one.
The two sides exchanged strike after strike, however, both were lacking in offensive methods. It wasn't until Yueshi used one of his spear arts that he successfully managed to hurt the monster.
A few moments later, the creature hissed in pain before crashing to the ground.
After it few down, Yueshi immediately collected his trophies. A few sturdy scales, the snake glands and poison, and also its blood and fangs. Yueshi stored everything on a space treasure he had borrowed from Baiyun, a purple-colored wristband.
After ending the battle here, he continued to move deeper.
Along the way he collected any herbs he saw, though he was not sure of their effect or if they were precious – he would leave that for Xiao Yao.
And not long after, he heard the sound of a battle happening, immediately making his way there.
What he saw astounded him. A black lion with traces of red on its fur, which looked like molten magma, was fighting a six-armed ape.
He could feel the two beasts were far stronger than him, and that they should not be in this region – the Hellfire Lion and the Warmonger Ape habitats were not on this part of the forest too.
Yueshi did not stay for long, leaving in a hurry. He did not care why they were here, as this was none of his concern. Not having the power to defeat them, he could not reap any benefits.
If he was stubborn and tried to get some benefits after the two exhausted themselves, he could end being killed instead.
Time continued to pass by, and eventually, Yueshi had already traveled fifty miles in.
He had fought a few opponents along the way, however, nothing that gave him trouble. Even his first opponent, the snake, was not that much; it was just that its flexibility gave it an edge against Yueshi.
Then, when he was exploring his surroundings, he took notice of a seemingly ordinary cave. If it wasn’t because he was growing more and more sensitive to qi, he would have not taken note of it.
"Seems like I found something good." He could feel the qi in the air being attracted to the cave as if something inside was trying to swallow it.
Obviously, he would not just jump in hoping to find a treasure, and that being so, he decided to see if anything was residing inside.
Because the cave's entrance slanted downward, he could not see much. Still, picking a small pebble from the ground, he threw it inside the cave.
He hoped the noise would provoke anything living inside.
Just as expected something inside immediately roared, announcing its presence. Yet, for some reason, the creature did not leave to see what or who was bothering it.
Even after a long while, Yueshi didn’t see a single trace of the beast.
Trying again, Yueshi threw another rock, earning him another roar. Yet, the beast still did not leave. Again and again, Yueshi threw a rock and heard the roaring creature; yet, the monster was still not willing to leave its dwelling place.
It was truly a strange happening, as most beasts would have long left to see who dared to invade their territory. Yueshi could only conclude that this was related to whatever was attracting qi to that particular place.
And almost sure that the beast was not going to leave, Yueshi decided to approach slowly. Where there is danger there is fortune, and the strange movement of qi in the air seemed to tell him something good resided inside of the cave.
Approaching calmly and cautiously, Yueshi was given a fright when, just as he stepped inside the cave, the roar sounded again. Yet, seeing no movement inside, he walked in deeper.
Little did he know that what awaited him inside were troubles bigger than anything he could expect and that the roaring beasts would, soon, become the smallest of his problems.