Fight Against Hunger

Huan Wei's wait was getting longer and longer. It was not good that the fire had attracted Huan Hong's attention. It would not be a great loss if this opportunity slipped through Huan Quon's fingers. After all, he could try again in the next caravan, but things would have been very bad for Huan Wei. He had started a big fire. He had killed someone. If the pill theft didn't happen, it would be impossible to pin it on Huan Hong. This theft would actually the finishing blow.

Huan Wei was still looking at Huan Hong. "Come on..." He swallowed as he watched him without moving from his place. It was only a matter of time before everyone went back to their own business, but there was still no move from Huan Hong. The pills were right in front of him. Why wasn't he taking them? Or wasn't his plan to steal them? Was all Huan Wei's efforts in vain? Had he misunderstood Huan Hong's intentions? Had the youth with the spear been planning to buy them with money all along?

Eventually people stopped watching the fire and went about their business. The marketplace was half empty. Many people were heading to the fire location. Huan Wei had a disappointed look on his face. His plan had been thrown away. If he had stolen the pill himself, everything would have been perfect. Trusting someone else had finished him. This opportunity would probably never come again. Once the fire was investigated, it would lead to Huan Wei. And he wouldn't have enough evidence to execute Huan Hong.

Then Huan Hong started coming towards him. He had a smile on his face. Huan Wei swallowed and waited. "Good, you're still here," the spear-wielding youth said when he arrived.

"I'm waiting like you said, Brother Hong."

"Take this." Huan Hong handed him something, trying to hide it underhandedly. Huan Wei was excited again. Could it really be? When he sneakily reached out his hand and took what was handed to him, he saw that it was a pill. "Don't tell anyone."

Huan Wei became excited and realized that he had underestimated the other person. Although Huan Wei had been watching him the whole time, he had not seen the moment when he had committed the theft. When he raised his head and looked at Huan Hong, he felt that he had to get rid of this man. If he didn't finish this soon, Huan Hong would cause him a lot of trouble. Huan Wei put an innocent and excited smile on his face.

"Thank you, Brother Hong, you are my senior now. I don't know how to thank you, I don't even know what to say. This is the biggest favor in my whole life. From now on, whatever you say." Huan Wei bowed and showed him respect. Huan Hong lifted him up.

"Come on, now go and get stronger. You've been waiting a long time. You must want to use the pill as soon as possible. The Traveler stage is now open to you."

Huan Wei thanked him again. "Thanks to you, I will get out of this bottleneck I'm stuck in. I will never forget this favor." Then he looked directly into his eyes. "You can be sure that I will repay you for this act soon."

"Go on."

Huan Wei bowed his head and quickly walked away. He didn't even look at the pill in his hand as he left the marketplace. People were talking about the fire, but he didn't hear any of it. The feeling the pill in his hand gave him was tremendous. He wanted to go home and use it right away.

At that moment he remembered the promise he had made to himself. He had said he would not leave this stage until he had killed Huan Quon too. A man's pride and self-respect would have made him keep such promises, but Huan Wei had never been one to care much about pride. He again based his entire plan on logic and intelligence.

"If Huan Hong's death happens, Huan Quon will be all over me. They probably planned this together. Even if Huan Quon cannot defend Huan Hong in court, he will know the truth. At that point, he will definitely want to eliminate me. If I can get to the Traveler stage, I can progress quickly. I've been going in and out of the forest a lot, so it'll be easier to find some energy fields, even if they're not perfect. It shouldn't be too hard to use the energy fields to get to the top of the Traveler stage. After all, this is only the first realm. The faster I progress, the better."

Huan Wei put the pill in his pocket and came home. He knew his father would not be home, but maybe he shouldn't have taken the pill at home? His father might come and spoil everything. Or if Huan Hong was in a hurry to report him, the town guards could come to the house and take him away. It was best to find a safe place in the forest. So he changed his route before entering the house and made his way through the empty alleyways into the forest.

It didn't take him long to get out of town. He had the pouch he had take from Huan Liwei's corpse with him. He was sure to be beaten by his father for not going home. Because he was planning to spend the night in the forest. He was also very hungry because he hadn't eaten anything for a few days. All that running around was also a factor. If there was an animal caught in the traps, he could cook it. He had matches with him.

He entered the sparsely wooded forest and began to move into the depths. His steps were fast. The excitement of having the means to cross the bottleneck was literally scorching him. If he had believed it would be safe, he would have sat at the base of the first tree he found and started, but he didn't want to waste the opportunity because he hadn't chosen a good place. So he kept moving forward.

He came to the place where he killed Huan Liwei. He also found a small animal in one of the traps on his way. This squirrel-like animal was enough for a meal. He quickly gathered some stones and twigs. He built himself a campfire. He also collected the leaves that fell from the trees and threw them into the branches. Then he took out a match and lit the fire. He did not forget to blow on it to make it even stronger. After making the fire, he found a straight branch and put the animal on it. After placing it on the fire, he went to the edge and waited.

That was the hardest part. Once he started meditating, he would probably have to stay up until morning. So first he had to eat. At the same time he was thinking. "They will investigate the cause of the fire. This will lead to the arsonist. The town guards didn't see my face. I am sure of that. They will say that someone with a silver hairpin escaped."

He turned the food to the other side so it wouldn't burn. "It won't take long for the alchemy merchant to realize that one of the pills is missing. He will consider the theft an insult, even if the price is nothing to him. They will pressure Huan Fu to find the criminal and punish him. If the criminal is not punished harshly, Huan Fu will lose a lot of face. The caravan will never visit Bitter Sea Town again. They will probably spread rumors to other caravans. The town's economy would plummet. Huan Fu can't take that risk. He will want to execute someone."

After a while, he peeled off the skin and ate the cooked meat. He was not completely full, but at least he had satisfied his hunger. Now he could get back to his real work. He took the pill out of his pocket and looked at it. The small sphere, bright blue in color, was the key out of the Pedestrian stage he had been stuck in all this time. He had risked so much to get to it. He had endured so much. In the eyes of humans, it was almost not even small. He was almost nothing, but now he was ready for the first step on the road to becoming so much more. He would not limit himself like his father. He wasn't going to enter Path of the Earth and throw away his future with his own hands. He was going to gain powers no one had ever imagined. And this ambition gave him a sense of déjà vu. Huan Wei couldn't remember being this ambitious before, but he felt as if he had.

He ignored it and took a deep breath and put the pill in his mouth. After he swallowed it, he could even feel it going into his stomach. He sat cross-legged to meditate. This time he believed he could overcome the hunger in his soul. It was not a simple amount of energy. At least not for someone at the beginning of the first realm. No matter how hungry his soul was, the High Tier Natural Energy pill would give him what he needed.

As the pill in his stomach began to dissolve, he felt the power spreading through his entire energy system. More energy flowed through his veins than he had ever experienced before. It circulated throughout his body, pressing on his veins as if it wanted to expand them. Huan Wei immediately began to try to break through the bottleneck. He focused the energy circulating through his body on one point. Right in the center.

But at the same time, his hunger began to consume all his energy. "No!" he thought to himself. The amount of energy inside him was rapidly diminishing, but he had to break through the bottleneck. He would have no other choice. So he resisted his own spirit and continued to use the energy for himself.

The meditation, which he thought would last until morning, was over in less than half an hour. Huan Wei had not yet broken through. His clothes, soaked with sweat, stuck to him. His whole body was burning as if he were in a huge fire. His energy system was almost empty. Because he had focused all his power on the center, he had even used his own energy along with the energy of the pill. This continued for a few more minutes. Finally, a pleasant breeze blew and Huan Wei toppled sideways. He propped his elbow on the dirt to avoid sticking to the ground. He took deep breaths in and out. "I did it," he said to himself.

He had finally done it. He had left the Pedestrian stage behind and entered the Traveler stage. He had conquered the hunger of his soul. He was no longer stuck at the bottom. His path was clearer now. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. When he tried to stand up with the support of his hands, he lost his balance and fell back. Maybe he had managed to break through, but it hadn't been easy. It was hard not being able to meditate like normal people. The battle with his own body was wearing him down a bit. Even though he was victorious, he needed some rest. So he leaned his back against a tree.

"It was shorter than I thought," he said to himself. "Maybe my soul doesn't waste all that energy into nothingness."

He took a few more deep breaths. He also waved a leafy branch he had found towards him, creating wind. "I still have time. I can also use Huan Liwei's pills before morning. My return will be marvelous."