Lute walked even deeper towards the interior of the mountains. At the moment he felt no reason to leave, at least not before he felt ready. While fighting off the Fallen Tide Hall disciples, no matter how weak they were, he didn’t feel comfortable with his strength, in the end he had to rely on Qi, and for trash like that he shouldn’t have to. Until then, the best course of action seemed to be cultivating and slaughtering Vicious Beasts until he was at the peak of the Foundational Qi Realm.

Right now, Lute already felt himself closing in on the eighth level of the Foundational Qi Realm, combat in a one versus four scenario, while he didn’t feel too pressured, allowed Lute to gain some insights, for cultivation wasn’t merely amassing the worlds’ essence, it was also an understanding of oneself and the universe.

Continuing deeper into the forest, towards stronger Vicious Beasts, Lute felt wary and excited at the same time. He’d be able to test his mettle against truly competent opponents, but with this chance was also extreme danger, he didn’t know what he’d do if a Nascent level beast appeared.

As he was lost in thought, Lute finally noticed Isla begin to stir through the connection they shared. She had been silent ever since he’d encountered the Fallen Tide Hall disciples. In front of him, her spiritual form began to slowly manifest.

Lute stopped in his tracks and addressed her; clearly she wouldn’t appear directly in front of him unless she wanted to talk. “Well… I guess you were wrong about those four, they were surprisingly much easier to deal with than you made them out to be.”

Isla slightly smirked at Lutes words, he was certainly moving towards becoming a disciple of hers in the truest sense. All direct disciples would typically inherit some trait or quirk their master had. And what manifested in Lute, whether it was due to the merged souls or not was he would kill someone without a second thought, he had no qualms about whether it was right or wrong, and he just did it to eliminate all possible unknown occurrences that would arise had he not killed anyone.

Isla replied in kind, a slight reprimand within praise, “You performed at nearly and acceptable level, especially letting the wolves finish the job that was especially vicious, now if only you hadn’t let the other two leave, then I could truly say that you are someone worthy of being my disciple. I don’t let people get away when I have set my sight upon their life, and neither should you.”

Lute bowed slightly, “Thank you for your praise and advice.”

After walking until twilight, Lute was now truly deep into the Crimson Tide Mountain Range. In every direction, there was foliage so thick; he could barely see a few feet in front of him. This was precisely the reason for plundering a short sword; Lute hacked away at it creating a small clearing to live within.

Sitting in a lotus position, Lute attempted to cultivate, the wall to the eighth level had shrunk even more, with a push, Lute felt as if he could force his way through the bottleneck.

Under the lunar light of the moon, he constantly in took Qi, purifying it and condensing it to a stronger form. Towards the end of the session, the wall to the eighth level of the Foundational Qi Realm was virtually nonexistent. With a final revolution of his Qi, it compressed and a fundamental change occurred within, its strength increasing once over as Lute now exuded the aura of someone at the early stages of the eighth level.

Stretching his body, removing the stiffness, Lute examined himself. He was steadily growing in physical strength each day, even if they were minute increases. If he had to compare himself to cultivators that didn’t temper their bodies, it was a vast chasm between them. It was better to compare his physical body to that of a Vicious Beast; they would never need to rely on equipment like humans because their bodies were their armor and weapons.

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With this breakthrough Lute felt himself steadily leaving the bounds of a mortal, even if he was at the starting level of cultivation. Non-cultivators most certainly no longer possessed the power to harm him. He’d truly entered a world of monsters, both human and nonhuman.

Even with the increase in strength, Lute didn’t get overconfident; he knew that he was only a small insignificant speck of dust in the universe. But, he couldn’t hide here in the Crimson Tide Mountain Range forever, there was no place for cowardice, he’d have to leave at some point, but when? For this, Lute turned to his Master.

“Master, I can’t stay here forever, I think we both know this. Despite us not having any particular destinations on this planet, I think we should leave the mountains at some point. But, do I have the strength to do so?”

Isla looked at Lute once then turned away, Lute stood there in silence for close to five minutes and was about to continue walking when Isla finally responded. “You already know about the dark side of human nature in the cultivating world, they will attack you without reason as the previous ones you met. You already know about the strength of Vicious Beasts, and you know your limits. So, when you are able to kill a Nascent Qi Realm Beast or when your reach the Nascent Qi Realm, I believe it would be in our best interest to leave and find a new journey to embark upon. It is as you said, we can’t stay here forever.”

Lutes’ eyes unfocused and refocused as he thought about her declaration. At the rate he was advancing, it would probably take some months of serious cultivating to reach the peak of the Foundational Qi Realm at the tenth level. And he had to reach the Nascent Qi Realm too! The bottleneck between two great realms, he didn’t know how long it’d take to break through; it might be as quick as a few hours or as long as a year. It was different for everyone.

This only left him with one option, to kill a Nascent Beast while in the Foundational Qi Realm, ideally when he was at the peak level. He’d then be able to leave the Crimson Tide Mountain Range having completed Isla’s conditions. But, this path was far more dangerous because he didn’t know how much the gap in strength was per level of the Nascent Qi Realm.

“How much does the gap in strength increase per level of the Nascent Qi Realm for Vicious Beasts? It can’t be all that great because it’s only the second of the Nine Mortal Realms right?” Lute asked in a blunt manner, not hiding his intentions from Isla.

A flash of light seemed to go through Isla’s eyes, a slight grin now apparent. She had thought Lute would do this, and he didn’t disappoint her. His path to the peak would be dyed in blood that much she knew.

Her voice, was as cold as humanely possible, her eyes depicted an insanity that only those who lived and died for combat could understand, “So you choose the path of blood eh? That’s a fine choice. It is more entertaining to fight with your life on the line to gain strength instead of just sitting in a small square room and cultivating at all times. You’ll grow in power quicker that way, but the risks are also greater.”

The same flash of insanity appeared momentarily in Lute, however he unconsciously suppressed it. Unlike Isla who blatantly showed she lived for combat, Lute for reasons unknown to even himself would suppress his cultivation, slaughter aura, and the same insanity he’d inherited from Isla. If he was walking in a city, no one would know he was a cultivator and they especially wouldn’t know how savage he could truly be until he stepped onto a battlefield where there were no rules or regulations, only the loss of lives.

“There are no shortcuts to true power, if I want to grow faster to make up for the fact I need more Qi, I will need to temper myself through combat. And I think I will start with a Nascent Beast, as long as I can survive more than one attack.” Replied Lute with a sharp edge to his voice, he was ready to leave the mountains, as long as he had the strength he needed.

Isla looked off into the distance, and then turned back to Lute, her body posture changing, a challenging look in her eyes. “The gap between Nascent and Foundational Qi Realms is the amount of Qi the body can hold. A Nascent Realm first level could probably take on multiple peaks Foundation Realm cultivators because of the sheer difference in amount of Qi. But, for you who already need more than three times the amount of Qi to cultivate as others, the chasm isn’t so large. Combined with your body, talent for combat and purity of Qi, with an extreme struggle, you might be able to go blow for blow with a first level Nascent Beast right now. And I meant that literally when I said right now.”

Isla floated off to the side, with a smile that seemed to sarcastically say good luck, she waved Lute towards the forest in front of him. The next thing Lute heard, a lumbering Vicious Beast, seemingly some sort of bear, but with some type of acidic substance drooling from its fangs and claws.

It was more than five times the size of Lute, brown fur, acidic claws and fangs, and cloudy blue eyes, the opposite of Lutes that were clear sky blue. The aura it was emitting was that of the first level of the Nascent Qi Realm. And the pressure of it had surpassed Lutes’.

Lute quickly backed away, but instead of fear, he emitted a dry laugh. This Master of his, she really wanted to kill him. He didn’t want to fight a Nascent Beast until he was at the peak of the Foundational Qi Realm, and yet she sensed this beast and hadn’t told him about it. If he wasn’t careful he might even die, escaping was not an option either as despite its size the bear had to be quick as its cultivation was the next Great Realm above Lute.

Lute unclasped his cloak, and took off the fur vest he usually wore. He now showed his bare chest and all its scars, his anticipation for battle rising, Lute released slaughter aura, and held his short sword in a reverse grip. With a maniacal grin he looked the Vicious Beast eye to eye.

“Fine then, I was looking for a challenge anyway, if it’s a battle you want… I shall give you a war instead.”