Journey to the Martial Seekers Sect

Gareth was now a long distance away from the city of Welles. That was a place where he had made many a good memories. Most surprising of all were the gifts many of his admirers had given him. These gifts were enough to surpass l his entire earnings since he started this line of work.

The night of his final match was one that was etched deep into his memories. He had never felt so close to them. It was a night of heightened emotions.

The farewell party held by his friends and his coworkers that night had been many times more emotional. Surrounded by their well wishes and their good wills.

He had left in the dawn of the next day. Lisa seeing him off and handing a ring to him. 

Gareth twisted that ring that now rested on his finger. It was a spatial ring. Within it was a large space. This ring that would have cost a fortune was one of the gifts he received from one of his admirers. Within the ring was literally a small hill of world stones. There were other gifts in the spatial ring. Some being too personal, but he kept them all. 

World stones were the universal currency in the world of cultivation. They were small, flat stones that were used in trading everything from daily necessities to cultivation resources. 

The journey to the Martial Seekers Sect was going to be a very long one, but the first part of the journey was one that was familiar to Gareth. He had passed through this forest on the way after leaving home. Joining up with the first group he travelled with along the way. 

This part of the forest was mostly filled with unawakened beasts. Beasts took more time than humans before they awaken, and instead of awakening talents, what they awakened were bloodlines. The quality of a beast's bloodline was the determinant of how far along the road of cultivation they could cultivate.

The first part of his journey was smooth. The unawakened beasts and the few awakened beasts on his way were no challenge and were easily taken care of.

Crossing the forest. This taking less time to do than the first time he did so as he ran instead of walking most of the time. With his speed that was more than ten times that of his unawakened self and an equally terrifying stamina, this was an easy feat.

The next part of his journey, as was pointed out on the map he held in his hands was going to be over a mountain range. There was a safe path marked out on the map, this safe path was marked out as being safe from beasts. The mountain range itself was populated by a large number of unawakened beasts and awakened beasts.

This was something Gareth saw as a good opportunity, he disregarded the safe path. Walking to the places marked as being populated by a large number of beasts, it was time to begin his training.

*

After fighting non-stop for a long time, the current Gareth who was covered with blood stopped by a stream flowing through the mountains. The beasts hadn't been able to give him a good fight. Most of them were too weak, but he gained something from this as he learned how to better control his strength. He could now lower his strength to match the average strength of the beasts.

He shucked his clothes and got into the stream. The water was cold. He washed the dirt and blood off his body. The clothes he took off also received that same level of care. He got into new clothes and sat down far away from the stream. 

A quick fire was lit, and soon a skewer of meat was being roasted upon it. The tantalizing smell of meat was carried along by the gentle breeze. Alone, under the night sky covered by the giant trees, Gareth enjoyed a hearty supper.

This tranquil scene did not last for long as he soon felt an approaching presence. Footsteps swished over the fallen leaves. One step followed after another as a person appeared at the edge of Gareth's vision. He had remained tense ever since his sharp senses caught the approach of the new presence.

The woman stopped when she felt Gareth's gaze meeting hers. She greeted. 

"Hello. I was passing by when my nose caught a delightful smell. Might I join you for the night?"

Gareth had not thought he would meet another person on his journey through these mountains. The route he was taking avoided the established paths, and these mountains were just too massive.

"Please, do join."

He did not think it would be a bad idea to share some meat and have a conversation with this fellow traveler by the fire.

"I am Mira," the woman introduced her name, "a wandering cultivator and a poet."

"I am Gareth."

The woman nodded at his answer.

He offered her some meat and spices with a skewer.

She soon had her skewer over the fire, roasting the meat.

"It is rare to see any one outside the established paths," Gareth said as a way of conversation.

"I could say the same for you too," Mira replied, biting meat off the skewer.

"I am just taking it as a way of training."

"I train myself this way too," Mira said, "and this mountain has some cultivation resources. It is a way of cultivating and training at the same time to me."

'A wandering cultivator indeed.' Gareth thought.

Wandering cultivators were just like the members of sects and families. Those who truly cultivated, and did not just treat cultivation as something to do. Those who cultivated to breakthrough their limits. 

However, unlike members of sects and families, their cultivation journey was not as easy. They had to cultivate with low grade techniques. The better and more effective cultivation resources were things they had to strive to get. Their completions were even harder because of the low grade techniques they use.

The ones among them who could breakthrough the Awakening Realm towards higher realms were usually those with a bit more luck than others. Discovering buried legacies and natural cultivation treasures by chance. The path of a wandering cultivator was the hardest to walk on and for every successful wandering cultivator, there were countless ones who had fallen on the path. 

This was a path only a brave few could walk. This, however, was a path Gareth would have walked on if his talent was low.

Gareth also knew that one could find cultivation resources in this mountain, but he never had his mind on that. Finding something like that was hard, and it was hard to find anything worthwhile.

With his cultivation speed for a night, even when he was currently using the low rank technique he had acquired from Janet was probably enough to rival the effect one of these hard to find resources would have.

They both returned to their meal after that. The fire died down, and they choose different places to roost. Awaiting the morning.