"My family is probably worried about my situation, s-so I will take my leave first" Liu Zhong quickly stumbled outside of the cave after seeing Zhao Fan losing his mind. What scared him more was that despite him being injured, Zhao Fan seemingly became stronger, as if possessed by some energy.
"This is probably a side effect" Zhao Fan didn't really have a choice because if he didn't use the dark energy, his body would not be able to handle the lightning. Moreover, the feeling when using it felt addicting but, seeing the hidden danger that the power brought, he decided that he would not use it again unless absolutely necessary.
Zhao Fan looked over at his surroundings and saw the multiple corpses of wolves littered around the cave. Not forgetting to reap the rewards, Zhao Fan tore off some pelts and tied them together to make a crude sack. His naked figure quickly tore up the beasts with his bare hands, placing the most valuable organs in the sack before leaving the cave. The tier 5 beast which was completely untouched by lightning had all of its valuable parts intact and would go for a large sum if he brought it back.
Light blinded his eyes as Zhao Fan finally stepped outside. His naked figure was now covered up with two beast pelts and coupled by his disheveled appearance, he looked just like a caveman. As he saw the trampled trees and the trodden ground near the cave, he released a heavy sigh. He ended up lucking out and managing to survive his first real disaster.
Zhao Fan suddenly remembered about the other soul in his sea of consciousness. He concentrated and looked inside of his own soul using the enhanced sense of a cultivator. A dark space surrounded two blue shining spheres. One of them was clearly a little dimmer and occasionally emitted sparks.
"Should I kill him?" Zhao Fan seriously contemplated. Although the remainder of the lightning might attack him, it should not be too bad now that the other soul took on the brunt of it. He could easily take the opportunity to eliminate a hidden threat which might come back to bite him. On the other hand, Zhao Fan would lose access to the mysterious power he obtained when he merged with the other soul and the advice of a mysterious cultivator.
"Murder is not the right thing to do. He already helped me overcome a disaster using his power and we agreed to make a deal, if I kill him now, aren't I no different than a beast?" Zhao Fan dismissed his thoughts and stopped observing the soul. He already knew that the other person wasn't evil because during their merged state, they could roughly gauge a few things about each other.
Zhao Fan touched off and sprinted through the forest at his highest speed. It wasn't long before the thick cover of the forest gave way to the clear plain, where large city walls were visible in the distance. As he got near the gate, he received quite a few stares because of his appearance.
"I should have enough to buy some decent clothes" Zhao Fan thought to himself as he walked towards the main shopping center. Finding a familiar looking store, Zhao Fan walked in and saw the middle aged beast parts seller. The middle aged man looked up at him after hearing the bell ring.
"Kid, it's only been a few days and you already look this desperate. News says the wolf pack is closing in, don't risk your life for more low level beasts" The shopkeeper gave his words of advice after seeing Zhao Fan's condition. Wordlessly, Zhao Fan walked to the counter and placed the sack on it. As it was unfurled, a ferocious aura was released and the shopkeeper's eyes widened from seeing what was inside.
"T-two rank 5 wolf hearts, two rank 4 wolf hearts, f-four rank 3 wolf hearts" The clerk stuttered as he recited incredulously. He looked back up at the young man and found his dirty figure to be mysterious and undecipherable. Before, he had thought that he was just another youngster heading to the forest in a last ditch effort before the competition, but now he realized that the youngster in front of him probably received a stroke of good fortune and had a real chance of joining a sect!
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"The total is 245 spirit stones, here you go sir" The clerk's tone turned a lot more polite. Zhao Fan didn't waste time, grabbing the bag of stones before quickly leaving. He walked out of the store and quickly bought some simple clothes from a general store before going to the equipment store from before. He found an attendant and bought a bear leather tunic, some leather pants and a set of Magma snake gloves. When channeled, the magma gloves created a small fireball which could be freely released. This type of artifact with an actual ability cost double of a normal low tier artifact and Zhao Fan spent most of his newfound wealth just on these gloves. The tunic was an ordinary artifact and fairly low quality too as he only needed something which could lessen the blow.
When he walked out, he wore a dark leather tunic and wore a dark red glove on each hand. At this moment, although he could not be described as dripping, he looked a lot better than before.
Since he had already mastered one technique he got, Zhao Fan wanted to meet his teacher for some advice on what else he could improve on. If he could get a new technique then his fighting prowess would boost significantly.
He quickly arrived at the academy and even before he could enter the class, he heard sounds of battle. Walking in, Zhao Fan saw his teacher was standing to the side while two green robed youths exchanged blows at the center of the stage. Both of them released wind blades at each other at various angles and gales from their clash buffeted the audience beside the stage.
Master Li stood with his arms crossed and turned his head, clearly noticing Zhao Fan's presence. The latter walked up beside him and watched the duel. The two very clearly at the same level as their blades of wind clashed and dissipated, each negating the other.
"I'm going to go serious to show the juniors the power of our sect" One of the two showed a faint smile. He outstretched his hands and wind from all sides rushed into his hands as if sucked by a black hole.
"I guess I won't hold back either '' The other person took on a similar stance and wind rushed into his hands as well. In just a few moments, the condensed wind turned into silhouettes of a huge hammer and a pair of daggers in the hands of the two.
"Wind Hammer Armageddon!" The hammer wielding youth ran forward and swung the hammer behind his head before sending it crashing down on his opponent. The other youth just smiled and grabbed his twin daggers in a reverse grip.
"Wind Dagger Rending Strike" Right as the two collided, the dagger wielding youth slashed horizontally straight at the huge hammer. The gales which were produced passively by the wind dagger all converged into a thin point on the dagger. As it flew through the air, the point released incredibly fast moving wind strings which collided with the large hammer and sliced it in half like butter. The now defenseless youth tried to gather the dispersed hammer into a shield to defend himself, but he was overextended and the wind string moved at an incredible speed.
Tang!
A gray colored wall formed in front of the doomed youth. When the string hit it a screeching sound was produced which persisted for a moment before the string disappeared, leaving a small gash on the wall.
"Principles of severing, you actually achieved it so fast..." Free from the situation, the youth had a lost look on his face.
"It's just a demonstration for the younger generation, no need to push so far, '' Master Li calmly said. Near him, Zhao Fan was completely in shock. The two youths were only older than him by a couple years and were both in the Qi Gathering realm, but they could probably kill him in a heartbeat. Not only that, his master, a foundation establishment cultivator, was extremely impressive as well and could instantly stop a full power attack at a moment's notice.
"As you can see, the difference between cultivators in sects and those without any resources is like heaven and earth. Multiple sects have stationed disciples in the city because of the recent situation, the tournament this time is your chance to transform from a snake into a dragon!" The audience which consisted of ambitious and poor teenagers were dispirited when they saw the fight but after hearing what their master told them, they were all filled with excitement and anticipation once again.
The two sect disciples promptly departed and soon after so did the other disciples. When only Zhao Fan and Master Li were left, he finally asked.
"Master, I have finished practicing the technique and seek your advice to improve further" Zhao Fan hurriedly bowed, clearly a lot more respectful after witnessing the other party's power.
"Hmm, you really are a genius. No need to be too respectful, you need to realize the value your potential holds. Ask whatever you want" Master Li clearly realized that Zhao Fan was filled with questions after the fight and was looking for permission.