15 First Settlement

The first settlement was like every other checkpoint that would come after. On the clearly marked path created by mercenaries was a small settlement that would need to travel to the nearest city everyday for essentials they didn't have enough of, like food.

The settlement was surrounded by tall and thick walls that curved into a spherical dome, leaving only two gates that could be used to enter or leave the place within it. One could tell just by looking at it that the person who designed the dome really took in the tactical advantages of Demonic Beasts.

The Demonic Beasts were different from animals because they had both intelligence and blood-thirst. They were unlike Animalistic Beasts who only killed to survive and were more insistent on sacrificing themselves to kill humans. It could be said that the sole reason of their existence was to kill any Cultivators they came across.

There was a few gaps in the dome where people were observing the surroundings. When one of the observers spotted Lou Meng who was riding a carriage towards the dome, he signalled to his coworkers to open the gate. Fang Yun could sense the air or vigilance around the dome as the feeling of danger being closer than one can imagine was always omnipresent.

Even after passing through the metal gates and riding into the safe area within the Checkpoint, the dreary feeling of vigilance didn't vanish. There were children in the Checkpoint nor was there normal families that lived blissful lives like those of Blazing Sun City, the only people visible within the dome were soldiers and mercenaries.

Perhaps it was due to soldiers and mercenaries being like oil and water that such an atmosphere arose in the settlement lit by Luminous Crystals. An analogy for Soldiers and Mercenaries was said to be that the relationship between Clan Cultivators and Rogue Cultivators were exactly the same.

Those under a more 'legitimate' authority like soldiers would always see mercenaries as greedy barbarians that only knew how to take missions for money. You could even say that a soldiers patriotism is what causes the disharmonious atmosphere to ensue.

Not many people travelled to other cities by themselves so it could be said that Lou Meng and Fang Yun stick out like a pair of sore-thumbs. This wasn't even mentioning how their handsome features made it so that the rare few numbers of female mercenaries and soldiers saw them more favourably. A lot of glares were shot their ways as they were considered weak, little pretty boys by the muscly male warriors of the settlement. This was especially due to the fact that they didn't even have an air of spirituality surrounding them.

Fang Yun didn't mind these stares but Lou Meng was a youth who didn't even know the meaning of fear as he glared back at the people staring at them. The Cultivators here were all of the Nascent Forging stage so he felt that his young master could easily deal with them if a problem arose. Fang Yun wasn't cocky enough that he could take on so many Cultivators at once stopped Lou Meng before something got out of hand.

Lou Meng could only reluctantly listen his young master's words and made his way to the nearest in within the settlement. When they got to the nearest inn of the settlement, they realised that their estimation of the price of how expensive rooms in these settlements could be were wrong. After seeing the price of a regular room, Fang Yun decided that he'd stay at this settlement to get a paying job before moving onto to the other checkpoints.

He spent most his money on lodging a room and the meals that came along with it, then sat dorm with Lou Meng in order to discuss their future plans.

"After resting for a few hours, you will continue training the basics until you have mastered Earth Step and regained your cultivation. I on the other hand will get a job so we can continue living here." Fang Yun decided by himself. It couldn't even be called a 'discussion' between them as Fang Yun arbitrarily made the decisions for both of them.

"I should be allowed to help out. Why do I have to train while you work? It doesn't make sense." Lou Meng didn't want to become a hindrance as he spoke up. He felt it was unimaginable for him to just 'relax' while Fang Yun laboured for their food and lodging.

"You are not only weaker than me, but also a lot less experienced than me. I want you to regain your cultivation before you get into any trouble." Lou Meng was speechless as Fang Yun spoke to him like he was some troublesome child who always got into fights, but he understood what his young master meant by recovering his former cultivation capabilities first.

"Here's a meditative technique that suits the Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing circulation technique, it will help you temper your Heart Force enough to reach the human limit, the Perfection realm. Don't rush since your combat instincts aren't something that can be tempered by Qi alone. Your own experiences will be needed in order to sharpen your Aura." Fang Yun spoke while handing him a mediative technique along with the War God's Sword Tactics he had been researching on their way to this settlement. It was best to keep valuables with someone he could trust rather than carrying things like this around with him everywhere.

Lou Meng took back his cultivation technique and began to reluctantly cultivate using the meditative method Fang Yun passed to him. He didn't even care about the value of his young master's techniques because he wasn't really bothered as long as he benefited.

Plus, it wasn't like he could believe that Fang Yun's method of cultivating one's 'combat instinct' was better than the ones on the Azure Sky Continent. The physique and soul DO have the ability to be trained by Cultivators and martial artists alike, but the mind and heart were more mysterious entities that humans couldn't begin to fathom.

In Fang Yun's previous life, Heart Force Martial Artists were extremely rare due to the requirements on talent in manipulating Aura and the extreme experiences needed to foster a genuine disciple of this form of martial arts.

Although the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style and the Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo style were martial arts created by the ideologies of those who founded them, the heart and mind were a lot more profound than the ideals of what is 'good' or 'bad'.

After finding a place to sit down, Fang Yun started to practice the original meditative technique he was taught in his past life. The difference in meditative techniques weren't as diverse as circulation techniques but the potential of Heart Force and Mind Force Martial Artists varied depending on what meditative technique they use.

The meditative technique he passed to Lou Meng was a more 'normalised' version of his Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo hybrid style. Within the technique contained the essence of 'Health' and 'Survival' which will be passed onto to his combat instincts every time he sharpens his Aura, the technique will make it less likely for him to be affected by the Evil Intent another may use to control him.

Fang Yun's own meditative technique differed a bit from Lou Meng's because it contained quite a few essences all at once. The essence of 'Survival' and 'Killing' from the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style and the 'Health' and 'Self-Control' from the Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo style were perfectly blended into his technique.

As he sank into the depths of his own consciousness using meditation, he found that the world within his mind was a lot dimmer than usual. The sea of consciousness which usually lit up his inner world seemed to be polluted by the chaotic desires swirling in his heart.

He had always wondered why his Heart Force and Mind Force hadn't reached the Perfection realm the same time his Soul Force and Physique Force did, but after becoming aware of how contaminated his sea of consciousness had become, he was more relieved that his Mind Force was able to hold on for this long. It seems like reincarnating wasn't as simple as he thought it'd be.

In this world within him, he floated above his sea of consciousness and looked down to see many 'stones' revolving in a circular motion within. A look of contemplation appeared on his face as he observed the 'stones' calmly.

If one was to say that a martial artists ruling consciousness was made up of their own ideals, then it would be safe to say that their sub-consciousness was made up of many variations of desire.

Fang Yun searched around his sea of consciousness until he found the things he was looking for: Two human shaped statues that were missing a few pieces of their body. From what he knew, the two statues were both representations of his Primal Instincts. One was formed by the previous Fang Yun whilst the other was formed by the Alex of Earth.

His conjecture on the matter at hand was that the existence of two Primal Instincts and the simple solution to fix his sea of consciousness was to merge the two of them together, which was a lot harder than it sounds. This didn't have anything to do with the incompatibility with the two Primal Instincts but the repercussions of fusing the Primal Instincts of the psychotic Alex Stuman into the absolutely normal one of Fang Yun's.

In Fang Yun's previous life, he had been subjected to many tortures to train his Heart Force in a way that was suitable for the modernised Chaotic Dragon's Spirit Tempering technique.

The young Alex Stuman of Earth had a very twisted childhood. Although he was able to reform himself after leaving his master, damage to his heart had already been done. The training he did in his early ages back then was to train his Heart Force and Physique Force using the essence of 'Killing' and 'Survival' inherited from the ancient martial arts his master imparted. As such, his Primal Instincts were altered using the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style's meditative technique in order to increase his killing potential.

Alex Stuman's Primal Instincts was practically the result of John Stuman's efforts to turn him into a more efficient killing machine while Fang Yun's Primal Instincts were pure and unaltered by any external forces. He'd rather not repeat his past life's history by turning himself into a psychopath who 'needed' to murder to survive.

So what should he do with his obviously disturbed Primal Instincts of Alex Stuman's? He could just destroy it and focus on fixing Fang Yun's Primal Instincts, but he felt that it may be too ruthless. Although he was a 'monster' in his past life, he still tried his best to change despite his circumstances. Alex is a lot more admirable than the plucky teenager Fang Yun was, making the new Fang Yun hesitant to destroy what was left of the Alex Stuman of the past.

Fang Yun looked around again as he thought of a solution that didn't include destroying the Primal Instincts of the broken man he once was. It was then that he got an idea after seeing a giant stone sword floating in the depths of his sea of consciousness. The stone sword represented the Combat Instincts Alex Stuman had forged through constant fighting on Earth's battlefields. This was something the previous Fang Yun didn't have as all his experiences consisted of peaceful memories where he read book all day.

When he saw the Desert Eagle he constructed out of Aura next to his Combat Instincts, he sighed before moving on to administering the solution he thought of himself. Fang Yun brought Alex Stuman's Primal Instincts and Combat Instincts into one whole while simultaneously fusing the rest of the desires scattered around his sea of consciousness into the Primal Instincts of the previous Fang Yun.

The result was that his Aura and Psion were purified to the point they underwent a transformation. His Heart Force and Mind Force finally reached the Perfection realm! The end goal for martial artists and the limit of mortals!

Fang Yun stayed in his meditative state for hours as he watched his Primal Instincts and Combat Instincts become more tempered by his old and new memories. The giant stone sword within his sea of consciousness seemed to let out a roar as his Aura was changed using the 'Killing' and 'Survival' essences of his altered meditative technique. His Psion, which was actually the waters of his sea of consciousness, also became more tempered by his 'Self-Control' and 'Health' essences at the same time.

This complete perfection of his four fundamental internal forces enlightened him on a path of martial arts he never experienced before. He no longer felt like his internal forces were incomplete as he revolved his four internal energies in a clockwise rotation, the same way he did when he was helping Lou Meng expel his Qi.

However, this time he was trying his best to attract the World Qi around him in order to lead it through his body and expel out somewhere else. It was like he was trying to learn how to 'throw' Internal Qi without 'storing' it.