12 Redwood

" Ha! "

* Cling! * The sound of weapons clashing and shouts filled the area.

" Ha! "

* Cling! * Two different weapons clashed again. One is an enormous spear while the other is a sword.

" Ha! "

* Bam! * The sword overpowered the spear and threw away the latter's wielder effortlessly to access the ground.

"Arg!"

"You lost again!"

In the Jade Forest beneath the verdant trees, these two people sparring against each other were none other than Yao Tian and Song Shou.

More accurately, it was one trying to land a blow while the other continuously evaded and countered each strike.

Yao Tian was having a hard time controlling his spear. With its big size, the momentum was hard to control. Many times he would stumble or lose control of his grip on the weapon.

"Your stand is too flimsy, be more steady, ground your feet!" Even with his injuries, Song Shou moved nimbly around the spear attacks. But he didn't attribute this feat to his reflexes, rather it was the terrible and predictable movement of his opponent.

He expected it, as the weapon was too heavy and large for a kid to properly wield.

* Bam! *

He sidestepped an incoming blow to the head and had the spear strike the ground. Not letting this opportunity pass, he pressed his foot down the spearhead and round kicked Yao Tian in the guts sending him crashing away, again.

"Again!" Despite Song Shou's friendly nature, Yao Tian found out how much of a demon he could be during sparring.

He had been training for the last 7 days, already mostly familiar with all the basics of spear fighting stances and techniques.

Even though he could only strike, thrust and block. He used them to the best of his abilities.

Yao Tian didn't stop consuming the Qi pills, at the end of every session when he would lie down exhausted and covered with bruises. Consuming one of these pills would heal him up in a few seconds.

But he had to find a way to get more because he only had two left, and he still had not succeeded in achieving the first stage of the 'Body Refinement Realm', which is the Muscles refinement stage.

'Trust a cultivator to go easy on a normal person.' Thought Yao Tian sarcastically.

"Nrgh..." Getting up took huge efforts on his part, only having enough stamina left for a single attack.

Song Shou stood still as Yao Tian charged up and prepared for a spear thrust.

"Take this!" Shouted Yao Tian.

As before, he sidestepped the thrust and struck him hard to his left side.

"Don't just shout your attack or your intentions unless you're fast enough, use your head." Chided Song Shou.

He then jumped up and used his knees to hit Yao Tian's skull, adding to the boy's already numerous injuries.

"That is if you still can with all the kicks it's receiving." He said with a smirk.

Yao Tian fell with his vision in complete disorder and his head ringing with a loud noise. He swore that the previous strike added a few more cracks to his already damaged head.

"Let's take a small break for now." Said Song Shou after sitting down giving his friend a well-deserved rest. "Your form is improving, unlike before, you can finally use your spear, but it's only for a few exchanges before you run out of stamina. I suggest that we stop here for now. I am not a good teacher for spearmanship. When we arrive at Redwood, I can help you find a proper spear instructor. Don't you agree?"

Breathing heavily on the ground, Yao Tian nodded his head. He had given it a lot of thought recently. He had already learned enough for the day from Song Shou, and he was satisfied with it....well not really.

No matter how skilled he was with a weapon. It didn't change the fact that he couldn't lift up his spear yet and he still hasn't achieved his first breakthrough!

What are skills going to do against someone who could flatten him to the ground with just a sneeze?

Why the heck was he here again!?

Oh yeah, Yao Bao...

'Calm down myself! That's just exhaustion messing with my thoughts.' Stuck with his inner complaints, he almost missed when Song Shou approached him.

"Oi, enough resting, for now, it's time to check up on your little brother."

Speaking of Yao Bao, that boy made the most progress in their own training. He is now already at the third stage of the 'Body Refinement Realm' of refining the veins by only consuming 5 pills!

He could now keep up with his older brother with his training and already far surpassed him in stamina and recovery time despite only being half his age.

Yao Tian was overjoyed with this news. He knew that the stronger his brother was, the more likely he would be chosen by an elder and be taken as a disciple.

That is at least according to what Song Shou told him.

This would guarantee him a safe and stable environment to train in and a powerful background to protect him from other people with bad intentions.

"I wonder if someone will choose me. I am a great cook...most of the time." Joked Yao Tian. "I could probably learn to make cultivating dishes, ha!"

'Yeah right, as if a cook could become a powerful cultivator in the first place.'

He was a tiny bit jealous to be completely honest. While the little one has nearly reached the end of his first cultivation training. Yao Tian hasn't even taken a step forward.

He would be content at becoming a regular outer disciple, he could relax and chill in the background while supporting his brother when he needed to.

After Yao Bao's future was set, he could also go back to the village and help his father in the fields.

He didn't need too many adventures in his life.

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Two days went by in a blink. Yao Tian continued with his training as usual, but barely any progress was made. Yao Bao, instead, was on a roll. He had consumed his 7th Qi pill and had broken through the 4th stage.

At this point, even Song Shou was starting to call him a monster.

They soon toned down their training as according to Song Shou, they were near their destination.

"We have arrived." Said Song Shou

Long in the distance, below the mountains, a vast crimson-coloured forest could be seen with a large town in its centre. Its size was many times larger than any village Yao Tian had ever seen in his life.

The town was closed off from the forest by a wide and tall concrete wall with two guard posts built near the main gate.

Soldiers in leather armour could be seen stationed along the walls and at the front gate.

Riding their carriage down the mountains and through the crimson-coloured forest for about a few hours, they arrived at the gates before the sun started to set.

They found a long line of other caravans of merchants, a similar sight to the new year's festival back in their village, but this time there were many more caravans and some of them were much more luxurious with carriages pulled exotic wild beasts that Yao Tian had never even heard of.

There was even a spirit beast among them!

A burning horse with blue flames that took the appearance of a mane on its neck.

According to Song Shou, this spirit beast was known as the Skyfire horse. It was a rarely seen breed of animal as to tame it one had to be at least at the 5th stage of the 'Outer Aura Realm'.

So only the town leader or high-esteem elders from big sects would own one.

The Skyfire horse could be seen pulling a carriage crafted from jade that had 2 levels. It was such a weird construction, but Song Shou told him that it was a common sight.

"Hold!" A soldier clad in leather armour, stationed near the gate entrance stopped them. "The entrance fee is 1 gold coin. Please pay the fine if you want to proceed into Redwood."

Instead of paying the fee, Song Shou retrieved a metal emblem with 'Floating Sea Sect' written on it from his pocket and showed it to the guard.

Seeing the emblem, the guard nodded and let them through the gates.

To Yao Tian, the outside of the town was already beautiful and intimidating enough. But the inside was like a whole other world.

The outside green surrounding turned into a colourful environment.

It was a hotpot of people from different places and villages, all leaving their mark in Redwood.

Hundreds of restaurants, tea houses and inns offered a plethora of culinary choices and those who felt hungry would always find what they craved for.

Dancers, singers and other forms of entertainers all advertised their establishment to the newcomers in Redwood.

"Visit 'Serenity' to experience true peace of mind for only 1 silver tael a day!"

'A massage service?'

"Hungry? Then come have a bite at 'The lion's den' where we serve the best-cooked meat for 5 copper tael per person!"

'I am quite hungry indeed.'

"Young man you look quite rough! Come by 'Crimson Feather' to look handsome again for 7 copper taels a cut!"

'Well that was just rude...was he talking to me?'

Not paying any more attention to the local people, Yao Tian continued his exploration of the town.

The houses were very much different from the ones in his village. Instead of dirt or wood, some of these houses were carved out of hard stone which went perfectly with the wooden parts. Others were made out of red brick walls which fit perfectly with the name of the town.

Some of the wooden pillars or walls had pieces of art carved in beautiful shapes of flowers and spirit beasts of all kinds.

Pristine colour, windows made of clear looking glass and some of these houses had multiple floors.

A huge pagoda could be seen in the middle of the town. Compare to the new looking houses, the pagoda looked ancient yet awe-inspiring.

Just by looking at it from afar, Yao Tian could guess that it was somewhat related to immortals.

Another thing he noticed was the sheer amount of people on the streets.

Both the Yao siblings had never seen so many people gathered in one place. Not even during the recent festival.

"Amazing, ain't it?" Said Song Shou with a smug expression.

"Yeah... It is the first time I have been to such a place." Yao Tian couldn't help but reply in awe.

"Well, you will be even more surprised by what Redwood can offer. But first, we must find a place to stay for the night. The testing will take place tomorrow, so you and your brother need to be in your best condition."

After wandering around for a bit, they found themselves a local cheap inn where they could spend the night. Yao Bao was the most tired of them all, as soon as he saw the bed, he immediately collapsed on it.

Yao Tian, on the other hand, sat down on his bed and focused on his last 2 Qi pills.

'These are my last pills, if I can't manage to achieve the first stage in the 'Body Reinforcement Realm' then I won't be able to take care of Yao Bao currently.'

Gathering his resolve, Yao Tian decided on a bold move. Even with Song Shou's warning that his action's possibility of causing internal injuries or worst death, he had no choice here. So in one fell swoop, he swallowed both his 2 pills and Yao Bao's last 3 pills.

Moments passed, he felt the same soothing sensation as before, but...

.

.

.

.

.

... still, nothing happened.

"Well, shit."