5 Departure

Time passed swiftly,

It has been a month since Fang Huo entered this village. He became one of the prime candidates to be selected by Hei Jiao along with fifteen others. He even interacted with He jiao a few times in this month.

Xian Xia even became a close 'buddy' of his. During one of the conversations in the past, he asked the crucial question that's been bugging him since the start. The Time Period !

"Xian Xia do you know Chang Shan Yin?" Fang Huo questioned casually. He along with Four other people could be seen sitting around a Bonfire. He used this question particularly because it's the only thing he could use as a timeframe to advance and retreat without raising suspicion. If he remembered correctly, Fang Yuan had disguised himself as Chang Shan Yin after the latter's death twenty years prior.

"Who wouldn't! Warrior Chang Shan Yin is one of the people I admire the most. Unfortunately, he died in the Poison Grassland battle five years ago because of those demonic scoundrels," Xian Xia said, clenching his fists with justice and anger, the scent of alcohol heavy on him the most.

'I see, five years passed since his death. If i can interpret it roughly… I'm at the start of the Novel.' Fang Huo's Red eyes gleamed under the darkness. He then nodded at Xian Xia and said exchanged some more nonsense and left the place.

…

Under the blazing sun, fifteen young men stood, forming a horizontal line. In front of them, a burly young man with Hei Tribe clothing, depicting his Rank 2 cultivation, stood inspecting everyone up and down.

"I'm Hei Po. Lord Hei Jiao left the village and returned to his base earlier because of an accident. He sent me here to bring you all to the base immediately," he spoke as if he didn't want to hear anyone refusing. Turning around, he whistled.

Whoosh!

Soon, five large crocodiles, the size of an elephant, surrounded the area. Their bodies were covered in dark red scales, and four thick, strong legs supported their humongous bodies. The tails of the crocodiles glowed in a metallic lustre as they reached almost 5 meters tall. And importantly, on their backs, there were lumps, like mini volcanoes. As they breathed, columns of black smoke rose from the lumps, varying in intensity.

'Lava Crocodile, Hundred Beast King.' Fang Huo's eyes gleamed as new information suddenly filled his head.

'All of them at Hundred Beast King level!' exclaiming in his mind, he noticed that four of these five Lava Crocodiles already carried some people dressed like villagers.

"They are from our surrounding villages," Xian Xia muttered silently, noticing the curious look in Fang Huo's eyes.

"Get on that crocodile. Don't worry; they are Lord Hei Jiao's beasts. It is your fortune to be able to ride these. They won't do anything unless you misbehave," Hei Po shouted and rode one of the Lava Crocodiles with agility.

Before long, the Lava Crocodiles disappeared into the horizon from the watchful eyes of the villagers.

Normally, a Gu Master wouldn't come out to roam the world before they reach Rank 3. They seldom prefer to stay in their tribe or clan until they have sufficient strength. But the current situation isn't the same. The only reason Hei Po dared to accept this mission is because of the protection from Lava Crocodiles and because their Hei Tribe is near this region. Exactly for this reason, Fang Huo felt pressured he'll get exposed staying in the village.

A mortal with no protection survived in the wild for a week, not to mention he was found unconscious near the Crazed Demon Cave. Even he feels absurd at this sometimes.

'This world is beyond dangerous… I need to awaken my Aperture and begin Cultivation as soon as possible!' That is the only reason Fang Huo took an extreme risk by seizing this opportunity even without much information about what he's getting himself into.

'But, that could be solved anytime soon,' Fang Huo thought, eyeing his 'friends' from the village. He could see some of them fidgeting and hardly trying to figure something out from their reactions. Fang Huo didn't sit around doing nothing the entire time. He sowed doubts and discords along with imparting his 'personal experience' of how 'evil' Gu Masters and tribes could be to his dear friends from the village.

Speak of the devil,

"T-this Lord Hei, if I may be so bold as to ask you a question?" A brave soul from Fang Huo's party soon asked stutteringly.

Hei Po raised his eyebrows at the sudden change in atmosphere and looked at the person with interest.

"You are a brave one, I'll give you that. So, what does a mortal from a village want to ask me?"

Wu Xia, the person in question, began to sweat profusely. But he gritted his teeth and asked,

"L-Lord Hei, we subordinates only know that we were chosen for the noble position of becoming guards in Hei Tribe. But we foolish subordinates failed to understand what we are guarding." He uttered everything in a single breath, forgetting to breathe.

The faces of everyone in the party changed. They all cursed him in their minds; this sinister bastard actually said 'we' and pulled their legs along with him. Is this still a person?

"HAHAHAHA! Guard? HAHAHAHA… you are funny too, I'll give you that. Alright, you entertained this Lord. I shall reward you with the answer. HAHAHA," Startlingly, Hei Po laughed till tears welled up in his eyes.

"Before that, since when did our Hei Tribe need an outsider as a guard?" Hei Po's eyes narrowed to slits suddenly, as dark red steel primeval essence burst out of his body and put pressure on Wu Xia.

Luckily for Wu Xia, it was just for intimidation, and Hei Po retracted his primeval essence soon. But even that was enough to make Wu Xia pant heavily and bleed from the seven orifices.

"All of you are entering one of our Hei Tribe's resource points Lord Hei Jiao is in charge of mining. But, don't worry! Before you enter the place, all of you will awaken your aperture," Hei Po stopped talking and didn't reveal anything more or less, and the journey passed in silence. But excitement could be seen on the faces of everyone present.

'So that's it!' Fang Huo looked at the back of Hei Po with gleaming eyes. The gears are already shifting in his head, cooking his future plan.