Chapter 6: The Search Begins

Deep in the forest, Ling was using his Three-Dagger Killing Formation in order to hunt a wild beast.

(Yes, I do have the map. But I don't know where to start looking for clues!)

As he slew the beast, he activated his spatial ring and brought out the tattered map.

(This map was poorly drawn, giving me a vague clue on the actual topography of the location. In addition to it's age, the strokes had already faded.)

"Sigh, I don't know if the owner of this map made it intentional or not, but searching for it's whereabouts would truly give me a hard time..."

With the wild beast he slew, he immediately set a bonfire and cooked the meat. He set the fire on low heat so that he could do his other task.

While waiting for his meal to cook, Ling goes to a shallow stream that he passed before in order to take a bath. Upon arriving to the location, he stopped and began to undress in order to take a bath.

Despite having a feminine-like traits, his lean but toned body stood atop of it. Ling possess both beauty and masculinity, portraying that his appearance had achieved nigh-perfection.

(Since when I was young, I trained my body in order to overcome my weak self and relied on the strange qi I possess in order to defeat all the enemies I encountered before. By absorbing their vitalities and qi, it is enough to deal them despite being a mortal with no cultivation level.)

(Only after I entered the Wen Clan, I finally set my foot on the world of cultivation and rose my cultivation stages...)

Ling closed his eyes, and the two qi daggers materialized in the air.

(I obtained the Three-Dagger Killing Formation from a Qi Condensation Stage bandit three years ago. We were still the same stage at that time, and I fought him using only my physical prowess and this stange qi I possess. I never thought that obtaining this technique would give me huge benefits.)

Ling dipped his toned body in the water, followed by the dematerialization of the qi daggers that got absorbed back to his body.

(Over the next two years, I still don't know the grade of this technique. I thought of asking the Soaring Cloud Pavilion about this cultivation book, but I was afraid that they might had any connections to the Wen Clan or covet this cultivation technique, so the book's origins were unknown to me till to this day...)

While he was bathing with several thoughts on his mind, Ling paused when he noticed two rock pillars at the other side of the river. Both of the rock pillars were placed diagonally, with a small distance that separates them from each other.

He also noticed some strange carvings on the rock. Out of his curiosity, he stood up and walked closer to the pillars.

Upon a closer inspection, he noticed that the carvings on the first pillar formed a connectiom with the other pillar behind it. A realization struck on Ling's mind and immediately activated his spatial ring and took out the scroll that contains a map.

Ling opened the scroll and immediately looked for the first symbol that was located at the bottom part of the map.

Ling smiled upon seeing that the symbols were identical to the ones he saw at the rock pillars.

"Hmph. I knew that these carvings were familiar, it turns out that it was the strange symbol that I saw on this tattered map!"

Ling turned around and leaped out from the stream.

"It looks like I finally found the first clue by coincidence."

He dressed himself with his clothes and immediately rushed to the spot where the food was cooked and saw that the meal was ready. Ling ate the meat in order to fill his stomach.

After finishing his meal, he cleaned up the place thoroughly, fearing that the Wen Clan might follow his tracks. Minutes later, he was done and began to move out.

Upon his arrival on the stream, he saw the rock pillars on the other side. With a giant leap, he reached the other side of the stream with no sweat.

He took out the map from his spatial ring and stood in front of the rock pillars.

"Hmm... If my calculations are correct, the next location of the symbol should be ten degrees due left..."

Ling leaped forward and began to follow the path that the map indicated the next symbol's location would be.

Several miles away from him, the Wen Clan's house began their search for his whereabouts. With Wen Jian leading the group, they carefully looked for some clues on where Ling could possibly hiding.

"Patriarch! We saw some bloodstains on the tree branches!" one of the guards shouted.

Wen Jian and Yao Tian immediately headed on the said branch, and noticed a miniscule amount of bloodstains slightly scattered on it.

"Patriarch... This isn't a blood of a beast. This is a smell of a human blood." Yao Tian said while examining the blood.

"Yao Tian! Guards! Search every tree branch that had bloodstains on it!" Wen Jian ordered his men.

"I'm certain that this blood was from Ling's. With this as a clue, this might guide us to his current hiding spot." Jian murmured.

Wen Jian immediately jumped across the tree branches while following Yao Tian and the chosen guards who tracked the bloodstains. The rest followed the patriarch and guarded the rear.

Hours had passed since they began to follow Ling's tracks by using his bloodstains on the branches, and now the Wen Clan's group met a dead end.

"Sir Yao Tian, it seems like that this is the last bloodstain we saw, and there were no further traces of his blood several meters ahead!" One of the guards reported.

"That's nonesense! Search for more clues other than his blood!" Tian shouted.

"Yes sir!" The guards shouted in unison.

As the guards scattered away from the main group, Yao Tian stood beside a huge boulder.

(Tch! Did he noticed the bloodstains he left while running away from us and covered it? We underestimated him this time!)

"What's the status, Yao Tian?" a voice familar to Tian spoke from behind.

Tian looked around and saw the patriarch standing in front of him. He lowered his head and greeted the patriarch.

"Patriarch! It seems like we lost track of him. There were no signs of bloodstains several meters ahead."

"Did you ordered them to search for clues other than the bloodstains?" Wen Jian asked him.

"I already ordered them to search for other clues, Patriarch!"

"Hmm. That's good." Wen Jian said.

Suddenly, one of the guards rushed towards them and greeted them with respect.

"Sir Yao Tian! Patriarch Wen! I have something to report!" the guard said while he lowered his head.

"Speak." Wen Jian ordered the guard.

Upon hearing Jian's order, the guard raised his head.

"While searching for clues, this guard noticed something unusual. I'm not certain if there was any relation of my discovery on sir Ling's whereabouts, but I smell the blood of a slained beast ahead!"

Wen Jian and Yao Tian looked into each other's eyes. Yao Tian nodded and looked back at the guard.

"Lead us the way! It must be one of the clues in order to track that bastard's wherabouts!" Yao Tian ordered the guard.

The guard nodded and began to run towards the location where he smelled a scent of a beast's blood. Wen Jian and Yao Tian followed and reached the area in no time.

The area was wide, but there were no traces of human activities in the said location. Yao Tian sniffed around, but there were also no signs of beast's blood lingering around.

"I can't smell any scent of a beast's blood as you mentioned before..." Yao Tian told the guard.

"The hunter, which could be Sir Ling, intentionally covered his tracks and cleaned up this area. But he forgot to cover the scent of the beast's blood completely. Although the scent was too thin, I could still notice it with my heightened sense of smell."

"How can you notice the blood's scent while we failed to detect its presence?" Yao Tian asked the guard.

"Before I entered the Wen Clan's house as a guard, my job was to hunt wild beasts and sell its meat on the market. With several years of experience hunting on the wild, I could tell the scent of a beast's blood, no matter how thin it is for others to notice."

Wen Jian smiled and praised the guard for his keen sense of smell.

"How impressive. Without your heightened sense of smell, our search might took a little bit longer. I commend you for that!"

The guard acts shyly upon hearing the praise of the patriarch.

"I-It's nothing much, Patriarch Wen. I simply acted for the sake of the clan."

"Umu. Let's see..."

"Xiao Hu would like to report to the patriarch!"

Wen Jian looked around and saw the guard standing behind him.

"Speak."

"This guard saw something strange at the other side of the river! Upon closer inspection, I saw some strange symbols engraved on the boulders!"

"Lead us the way!" Wen Jian ordered the guard.

All of them followed the guard. Upon arriving at the said boulders, Wen Jian immediately noticed the strange symbols on the boulders.

"This..."

"Patriarch! I don't think this had anything to do with that brat. Judging from the mark's age, this was made several years ago!" Yao Tian insisted.

"Silence!" Wen Jian shouted.

Yao Tian fell silent and stepped back from where he was standing.

"Yao Tian, order our men to scout the area within one kilometer radius and search for some strange symbols similar to this. If they saw anything, report back to me immediately!" Wen Jian told Tian.

"B-But Patriarch...!"

Wen Jian stared at Tian with sa serious look in his eyes. Tian felt an intense pressure and immediately ordered the guards to scout the area.

Wen Jian observed the carvings on the boulders once more and touched it.

"Yao Tian, do you know the the three desires that cultivators sought in this world?"

Yao Tian didn't answered the patriarch as he didn't know the answer to his question.

"The three desires that each one of us wished to achieve were power, fame, and truth. It is our driving force why we walked to the path of cultivation!"

"And this symbol leads to the 'truth', and it is enough for cultivators to pique interest. With that brat's curiosity and greed, ignoring the truth doesn't exist on his mind..."

Wen Jian looked on Tian with a smile on his face.

"Hahaha... It seems like our search will be over soon!"

...

Thanks to the map guiding him, Ling immediately arrived the location that the symbols of the map was pointing at. It was a small cavern covered with thick bushes.

"This should be the place..." Ling murmured.

Ling looked around, checking if there were any signs of vitality and qi fluctuations around.

(It seems like no one followed me or hiding in the shadows.)

Ling activated the Three-Dagger Killing Formation and lit a branch with flames. He entered the cave without making any noise as possible.

As he walked slowly to the depths of the cave, he saw a strange rock door ahead. There was unusual carvings with intricate patterns on the strange door, which Ling couldn't decipher. He placed the torch beside it and tried to push the door with his hands.

"Nggghhh!"

Even using his full strength, the door wouldn't budge at all. Ling gave up and leaned against the walls of the cave.

(What the heck is this door? It won't budge at all even I used all of my strength to open it!)

While he was thinking for any possible solutions, he noticed a strange contraption at the other side of the cavern's walls.

Ling walked towards it and held the handle without hesitation. He turned the handle clockwise and heard a clicking sound.

CLICK!

Ling pulled the handle and found out that i had a drawer-like mechanism. Inside, he found another tattered scroll. He got the scroll and opened it to see the contents.

Ling saw several words that was written at the scroll. To his surprise, the words were written neatly, with no crooked edges on each character.

"A single man's blood or the blood of many, both may suffice to quench its thirst. Fulfill its demand, and it shall stand as the arbiter at the gate you yearn to pass through."

Ling analyzed the words written on the scroll in order to understand the hidden meaning behind it.

"Blood... Suffice... Fulfillment... Demand... Pass through...?"

Suddenly, Ling noticed that some of these words were used metaphorically. Thus, he deciphered them with simple words related to these words.

After a minute, Ling finally understood the hidden meaning of the text.

(Does the text imply that one must offer a sacrifice in order to open this damn door? And the blood of a human was the key to unlock it?)

Without hesitation, Ling immediately made a cut on his hand. His blood dripped to the ground, and what he saw surprised him.

His blood that fell on the floor mysteriously moved on its own, travelling through the seams of the cavern's floor and heading towards the door.

Upon contact with the door's surface, the blood got absorbed and vanished right before his eyes, and the door began to glow red. The door immediately dimmed out in a split second.

(I knew it. Simply cutting and giving it a miniscule amount of blood isn't enough to activate this damn door.)

Ling sighed and healed his wounds.

(I'm not gonna bleed myself out just to open this door, would I?)

While Ling was thinking of ideas to overcome his current problem, the Wen Clan was on the move, still searching for his wherabouts.

"Ghk... An hour had passed and managed to discover three of those strange symbols. But still, we don't know where these symbols might lead us. When this will end?" Wen Jian said.

Wen Jian looked back and faced the remaining guards that was following him.

"Increase the search area and deploy all the Dantian Perfection Stage guards to scout the perimeter! " Wen Jian ordered.

By the Wen Clan patriarch's order, the giards began to scatter. Only him, Yao Tian, and the remaining nine Qi Condensation Stage guards.

Another hour had passed but despite increasing their search efficiency to look for those strange symbols, they didn't obtain further results.

While Wen Jian as his men was walking, his hesitation grew as the time goes by.

(Tch! Another hour had already passed, but my men didn't saw another one beside those three! Was my judgement wrong after all?)

Suddenly, Wen Jian noticed one of his guard came rushing towards his group.

"Huff...Patriarch! We have a problem!" The guard shouted while panting.

"What is it? Wen Jian asked the guard in confusion.

"Huff... Huff... Some of our men encountered an Eight-Class Demonic Beast! We seek for your assistance!"