11 - Hunt begins

The horns blew, announcing the beginning of the hunting competition. The sound thundered around the venue, scattering the birds that perched nearby. The cultivators who were waiting became excited, their hands itching for some combat and reward.

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" A voice boomed, gathering the attention of all cultivators. "I will repeat the rules once. You all know of the Beast rankings, and the points you earn in this competition will correspond to the monster's rank, its rarity, and condition of the hunted body. The stronger the monster, the lesser the damage to the body, and the rarer the type, the higher the points awarded. The points are tailored to both individual hunters and hunting groups."

He then pointed to a banner adorned in intricate patterns. "This is the Banner of Valor, it is an artifact provided by the Royal family. This will display the accumulated points of each individual or group. The artifact will be updated regularly throughout the competition. At the end of this competition, the individual or group with the highest points on the Banner will be rewarded by the royal family, which will be at the month's end."

He then pointed to the massive booth below the Banner of Valor where multiple guards stood wearing the symbol of an ascending dragon. "This is the exchange venue where you will exchange hunted beasts for points. The point calculation and Banner updates are transparent and subject to scrutiny. Any disputes or discrepancies will be resolved by appointed officials or adjudicators.

Here, you can also exchange the accumulated points for various resources and rewards at the designated exchange venue. However, each point deducted for an exchange will also reflect on the Banner. Exchanging points will impact a hunter's position on the Banner."

This caused some murmurs to break out as they now needed to decide when to exchange points for resources or hoard them for better resources. Hoarding points may lead to missed opportunities for resource acquisition, while excessive spending may diminish a hunter's standing on the Banner.

"Finally, the prizes awarded by the royal family may include monetary rewards, prestigious titles, hunting gear, or exclusive privileges. The distribution of prizes is determined based on the final standing on the banner at the end of the competition period. Those are the rules of this competition. But there are no rules in the forest."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

Another horn blew, and the cultivators scattered. Some used their techniques to get ahead of others while some decided to wait and see. The multitude of people had different ideas on how to win this competition, each in their own way. But all of them had a single goal: to kill.

...

At the top of the wall, a young man stood with an imposing aura. His stature commanded attention. His amethyst eyes held wisdom beyond his age, his purple robe rustled in the wind. He watched as the cultivators rushed through the forest, shaking the illusory peace.

"Are the things ready?" He questioned.

"Yes," His assistant answered.

"Then we should hurry, I can't let my sibling rush head into danger," The young man said and turned to the elder who stood behind him.

"I will take my leave, Teacher," He gave a bow.

The elder just gave a nod. The young man stood straight and walked away with his assistant.

...

"The first is leaving," Ling Hao spoke as he looked at the vanishing figure at the wall.

"I don't know of Feng Rong's confidence, but I hope you win this competition," Ling Hao muttered as he started his walk to Hu clan's tent. He was going there to meet his other friend, Hu Cheng. His assistants and guards followed him.

When Ling Hao approached the white tent with a tiger insignia, he noticed that the person he was looking for was standing outside with his spear in his hand. He stood behind a young man who looked only slightly older and was carrying a sword.

"Brother Qian, Hu Cheng," Ling Hao greeted.

"Xiao Ling, you haven't gone to hunt?" Brother Qian greeted and asked.

"Not yet, I rushed to meet Hu Cheng," Ling Hao answered. "I am surprised he is still here."

"I wanted to go, but brother stopped me," Hu Cheng said dejectedly which earned him a slap on the back.

"You would have just picked a fight with some random cultivator," Brother Qian chided. "We are here to train, focus on that."

He then turned to Ling Hao, "Xian Hao, be careful out there. You should not only guard against beasts but also the cultivators."

"I will take your advice to heart," Ling Hao replied. "I hope we meet each other in the forest."

...

The golden trails of the sun fluttered through the dense canopy, lighting the grounds below in light and shadow. The cold breeze swam through the land. The rustle of the leaves became a calming symphony that soothed the souls.

This was the Great Demon forest that fretted with danger in every corner and every turn. In here, everything will try to kill you and feed on you. If you aren't dead, then your fate could only be worse. This was a place no man could survive without adequate strength and luck. But even then you can die due to a simple mistake.

But today this great forest was disturbed. Many cultivators of varying strength rushed through the forest, their cultivation and aura like a torch in the darkness in a land filled with monsters that feasted on humans, whose flesh is a delicacy to them. As the food made is self-delivered, the beasts of the forest moved, hidden in the shadow.

And this time, things were worse, for the cultivators.

Due to the great shift, monsters of rank 2 and three were roaming the periphery of the forest. These monsters were strong, stronger than the cultivators of the same level. These beasts had stronger bodies and it only got stronger as they rose through the ranks, unlike humans who had to practice separately and need to spend many resources on.

So, those with weaker cultivation became food for these strong beasts. Some didn't know what hit them, some managed to see their death in the eyes, while the more strong bunch managed to escape with their life, but not for long. The forest was hungry and it had many who prey on humans.

The hunted could only cry in fear.

The sounds of cry and death filled the forest. The cultivators shivered at the screams filled with agony, but they weren't deterred. The scream of death only boosted their greed, as a stronger beast would fetch more points. The cultivators moved, ready to hunt their walking points.

"The weaker ones are dying quite fast," A young man, about 18, said to the girl next to him.

"It is better, for us," The young girl replied as she jumped from branch to branch. The duo was wearing tight purple attire that was made for combat. The boy wore a bow on his back, while the girl seemed unarmed.

They both moved forward, their figures hidden in the canopy. These two were the last 9th and 8th, prince and princess. Unlike the other prominent prince and princess, these two were of the concubines. The only reason they were allowed to battle for the throne was due to their aptitude for cultivation and their talent. They were the most talented among their tens of siblings. They had passed the hurdle of becoming a foundation establishment.

For those that starting the path of cultivation, the advancement from the Qi condensation to Foundation establishment is a huge hurdle and a great filter that separates the talented from the rest. A normal talent might take a decade to cross the barrier but these were top-notch talents that the empire had to offer.

They were also rich with resources.

"What's the plan, Sis?" The boy asked his sister.

"We move deep and away from the others. We can then hunt the monsters without worrying about being ambushed," She replied.

"But what of the other beasts?" he asked.

"I have a plan," She replied in a confident tone.

"I hope your plan is as good as you think."

"It is, but for it to work, we need to make as much distance as we can from the other cultivators," She answered.

"You are not thinking of going deeper, are you?" The boy turned to the girl, his face displaying surprise.

The girl just smiled.

"Are you mad? The beast will only get stronger the deeper we go," The boy nearly shouted, but kept his voice down. "We might even meet a Rank 3 beast and die without evidence!"

"No pain, no gain, Xiao Jia," She replied. "And it will also be safer for us. Those who are sent to kill us will make a better snack for the monsters than the weak us."

"If you think so," Jailiang decided to go with his sister's plan.

"And moreover, we will not be moving deeper. We will circle around," She stated before turning her direction. She landed on the trunk and used her Moment technique to move faster. Jialiang followed by using his moment technique. The duo moved deeper while keeping to the shadows.

...

~Weeeee~

I swam through the sky, doing all the acrobatic stunts that I could think of. I didn't feel the need to worry about any flying monster as the wind was with me. What are they going to do when the literal wind was with me?

But what are you? I have never read about a wind being alive in any Xianxia novel.

To answer my question, the wind twisted around me, rotating me in the process. Fluffy cried at the sudden rotation. I stabilized after a few turns and kept flying.

[ It's a novel ]

But you are real

[ Am I? ]

[ How do you know that this is not some Virtual reality? ]

[ How do you know that you are not randomly dreaming this in your sleep? ]

You do make a good point.

[ I do ]

If I am dreaming, what are you then?

[ Me? I am just your mind voice ]

Oh, that's why you are so annoying.

It felt a lightning strike at the new information. No wonder that the system was annoying, it was my mind voice. From my adolescence my mind was always an arse to me and now it follows me to dreams!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I am baffled.

[ You are dumb, aren't ya? ]

You fooled me, again?

I roared in rage as I felt the wind giggle at my antics.

Not you too!

The wind only giggled more as it swirled around me. I huffed and flapped my wings to move forward. The glided in silence for a moment, but my curiosity took over.

Hey, System! If you are not my mind voice, what are you?

[ A System ]

But what are you?

[ What do you think I am? ]

Aren't you a golden finger given to me by a higher being to guide me toward where they want me to go?

[ Well, that is true ]

So, you do have an ulterior motive to help me!

[ But a system is more than that ]

You aren't going to act like you didn't slip up.

[ We are created to bend the rules of the world ]

Tell me my purpose!

[ Accelerate the growth of our host ]

You are not going to answer me?

[ Each system is unique in its own way ]

Stop ignoring me.

[ There are many types of system than you can imagine ]

Answer me!

[ We are guides ]

To what!?

[ To change ]

To change what?

[ But as for my motives ]

[ I can't answer ]

Huff, I thought so.

Then answer this, why did you ask me to get these chickens?

[ Food ]

Then where is my reward? I completed your quest!

[ Reward: Companions and Food ]

Hey, give me some reward! I completed your quest!

I whined.

You are a system, give me some reward.

[ No exchangeable items found ]

[ Can't exchange anything ]

Oh, come on!

[ Can't do ]

[ Rules ]

F them rules!

~CA CAW~

I turned at the panicked cry that was coming from below. I looked down to notice Roaster stuck in place, looking to the front, his body shaking. His gaze turned toward me and he pointed toward the mountain. We have covered the long distance and were near the summit.

I looked at where Roaster was looking with my draconic eyes. I could see the many different colors that I couldn't see as a human, not like I had perfect vision back then, but I saw something move, something massive.

And... it had surrounded us?

I didn't know what, but it was long enough to surround us, and it's not going to catch this majestic dragon.

Time to blitz.