Combat Improvement

Yaan's routine became increasingly intense over the following months, unlike that of any other cultivator in the sect. Everyone was cultivating diligently due to the upcoming competition, but Yaan's training style was simply too different compared to others.

At first light, he would wake up and head to the first layer of the dungeon, executing twenty mortals every single day. Great Elder Wan even arranged for some mortals to be transferred across from other prisons in order to maintain this extreme quota. There was no helping it though. As Yaan's cultivation level increased, so did his need for Slaughter Aura.

Once every five days, Yaan descended to the third layer of the dungeon and battled against a Qi Gathering Realm prisoner. At first, he fought against unarmed cultivators at the early stage, but he soon enough, he started fighting against armed prisoners at the same level. Once he became accustomed to fighting in these death-matches, he moved on, fighting those at his own level, the Mid Qi Gathering Realm.

Unarmed, then armed, then increasing the cultivation level of his opponents. Like this, Yaan slowly increased his confidence in battle and was able to gather a significant amount of real combat experience. Not only that, but killing these cultivators and refining their Slaughter Aura was promoting the growth of his cultivation realm at a steady pace.

After refining the day's Slaughter Aura, he would spar against his teacher for between ten and one hundred rounds. Finally, after completely exhausting himself, he gouged himself on demonic beast meat until he felt sick.

Within a year, Yaan's cultivation rose to the Late Qi Gathering Realm. By this point, Yaan was fighting against Peak Qi Gathering Realm cultivators armed with an ordinary weapon of their choosing.

As Yaan faced his opponent, his long and smooth black hair hung down below his shoulders. Initially, he'd intended to keep his hair short like it was back in Lightstone Village, but Rui made the point that if he ever needed to disguise himself, having long hair was advantageous, since it could be restyled or even cut off completely.

Clash!

Yaan raised his sword and stepped back lightly, defending against the downwards strike from the extended spear. The spear pole slid down the sharp blade of his sword, causing the prisoner to stumble to the side.

The man gritted his teeth and watched helplessly as Yaan slashed down towards his neck. When he saw the eerily calm expression on the boy's childish face, the prisoner involuntarily shuddered. He realised that he was not fighting a child…but a monster!

'If I'm going to die, then I'll take you down with me!'

Chi!

The crazed man actually didn't try to dodge Yaan's attack, but flipped his spear and stabbed backwards towards Yaan's body. It seemed like Yaan had no chance to dodge, and indeed, the spear embedded itself directly into his chest!

'Huh?'

The man's final thought was one of confusion. His head slid away from his neck and his dismembered body fell to the ground. Even as his life faded away, he was unable to comprehend how the demon-child was still standing.

"Tch. I was too careless." Yaan frowned and stared down at the bloody mark on his chest. The spear had indeed managed to stab into his chest, but it only cut through half an inch of his flesh.

Any normal cultivator would have died from this attack, but to Yaan, it only resulted in a scratch. The reason for this was simple; his body had now reached the Peak 1-Star Realm!

For he, who possessed a powerful demonic body, such a hastily thrown attack had no chance of taking his life. For a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator to kill him with an ordinary weapon, they would need to land a well-planned, full strength attack, targeting a weak point on his body, such as his eyes or neck.

Thanks to his teacher supplying him with an endless amount of demonic beast meat, Yaan was able to rapidly increase the strength of his body. Because of this, his demonic body reached the peak of Rank 1 before his Innate Qi.

He ran into Elia again on his way home, but unlike one year ago, he responded to her politely and with a normal smile. Making the excuse that he needed to cultivate, he left without saying too much. Elia watched as he left, then sadly shook her head and turned away. She had thought that by entering the core sect, she and Yaan would be able to become friends again…

Yaan didn't seem to share the same sentiment.

He would always greet her with a smile, but the look in his eyes told her that his heart was elsewhere. She noticed that he acted this way with most people, as if his gaze was always fixated on something else entirely. She felt sad about this development, but there wasn't much she could do. She could only hope that eventually, Yaan would return to how he once was.

Yaan arrived at his teacher's home and waited for a servant to escort him inside.

His teacher lived in a small temple with a few select servants. The temple was hidden from view by a ring of luscious fir trees, secluding the temple within a few hundred feet of private lands. Inside this enclosed space was a beautiful world, filled with medicinal herb patches, cherry blossom trees, quaint streams and even a small lake. Yaan's eyes landed on his teacher, who was meditating on the small island in the centre of the lake. He waited patiently for his teacher to finish.

Half an hour later, Great Elder Wan opened his eyes, then swiftly crossed the lake using a strange method which did not require the usage of his Qi. His feet stepped on the water's surface, a miraculous sight, but one that Yaan had grown accustomed to by now.

Over the past year, Great Elder Wan had slowly undergone an unexpected change. His feelings towards his disciple were becoming increasingly complicated. Originally, he only took Yaan in with the intention of using him as a vessel for his own gain. When they first met, he never really considered Yaan to be a true sect member, instead thinking of him as a 'mere demon'.

But after witnessing Yaan's growth, his unexpected diligence and his serious talent in certain areas, the elder couldn't help but appreciate that this boy was actually worthy of being his disciple. Now that they had so much time together, his heart couldn't help but waver. He knew that he needed to steel his emotions, he needed to suppress these feelings and endure the conflict within his hearty. He didn't wish to let empathy or compassion hold him back, but this was easier said than done.

He was not a demonic cultivator after all. Continuing to deceive his disciple, this boy he had grown to care for, led to an inner turmoil slowly arising within his heart and soul…

"Hmm, an injury?" He glanced at Yaan's chest in surprise. It was rare for Yaan to run into any troubles with Qi Gathering Realm cultivators these days.

"I was careless…that man was determined enough that he tried to take me down with him." Yaan sighed deeply.

Great Elder Wan nodded in understanding. If someone was determined and ruthless enough to die with their opponent, then this could indeed lead to the downfall of someone stronger. It was rare to encounter people like this though, which was why Yaan had been caught unprepared.

"Remember to never underestimate anyone, Yaan, no matter their level. In this world, recklessness can lead to death."

It might seem strange that Great Elder Wan seemed to care so much about Yaan's combat ability, given that his plan only needed Yaan to cultivate and reach the Demon Core Realm. However, he had recently thought of a secondary plan involving his student. He realised that if Yaan worked hard enough, he might be able to reach the Innate Qi Realm before the date of the inter-sect competition, giving him the qualifications to compete!

Of course, Yaan would be unable to win such a high-level competition at his young age and entry level cultivation, but simply seeing a twelve year old child step foot on that stage would be a massive shock to the other factions. Plus, it would also boost Great Elder Wan's status even further within the sect.

A twelve year old reaching the Innate Qi Realm was unprecedented in the Greenwood Mountain Range, and even in the Ghu Province as a whole, such an achievement was extraordinarily rare! Even an extreme talent couldn't hope to achieve something like this!

Yaan spoke to Rui about the tournament a few weeks ago. Her response was blunt and realistic as always.

"If you can enter this competition, it will be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you will draw attention to yourself, increasing the risk to your life with the added potential of assassination from other organisations. On the other hand, this sect will definitely invest heavily in your development, giving you whatever you need to cultivate."

"So what should I do?" Yaan asked her uncertainly.

"You should aim to participate in the tournament. The demonic path is fraught with dangers, only by embracing risk can you hope to reap the reward. This level of risk is still well within the acceptable level, so you should at least try."

To follow the demonic path was to be ruthless both to others and to yourself. Being ruthless towards others was one thing, but treating themselves with this same ruthlessness was where many demonic cultivators fell short.

"Yaan, let's begin."

"Right." Yaan nodded. He walked three steps away from his teacher and took up a fighting stance. Holding the sword in both hands, he narrowed his eyes and prepared to battle.

Whoosh!

Both stepped forwards simultaneously, almost mirroring one another.

Clash!

The swords clashed together, creating sparks between the refined steel blades. The initial collision reached its climax, before both Yaan and Great Elder Wan released a flurry of attacks towards the other.

Great Elder Wan was still suppressing his cultivation and relying entirely on his mortal body to battle, but he was now forced to his limit in order to keep up with Yaan. Sometimes, Yaan gripped the sword in both hands and struck with his full force. Other times, he held the blade in his right hand to increase his reach, or used his empty hand to turn his body with greater momentum, generating a fast and powerful strike.

CLANG!

After an extended stalemate, Great Elder Wan was forced to take a step back. He opened his eyes in surprise when Yaan appeared before him and struck upwards towards his throat. Yaan didn't hold back against his teacher, because he trusted that Great Elder Wan would never be injured by his amateurish hands.

BANG!

Suddenly, Yaan was blown back. Great Elder Wan only pushed him lightly with the hilt of his sword, but it slammed into Yaan's solar plexus and sent him tumbling across the ground.

"Hahaha!" Unexpectedly, Yaan started laughing joyfully, whilst Great Elder Wan dropped his shoulders with a sigh. As Yaan painfully picked himself up from the floor, he grinned at his teacher.

"I finally forced you to use your cultivation!"

"Indeed…though I still limited my strength to the Late Qi Gathering Realm, the same as you. Even so…very impressive, Yaan." Great Elder Wan praised him honestly.

When she saw Yaan grinning foolishly, Rui rolled her eyes in secret.

"There's nothing impressive about forcing someone to use a tiny portion of their power. Are you that easily manipulated by his praise?" She asked.

"Of course not, it's just proof that I'm improving…" Yaan muttered quietly, inaudible to the Great Elder Wan, who was still lamenting over his 'loss'. Whilst Yaan hadn't defeated him, he had forced his teacher to use a portion of his cultivation! Great Elder Wan considered this his loss.

Yaan felt like Rui only ever pointed out his faults, criticising his decisions and mentality at every given opportunity.

Of course, Rui knew that she was being harsh on him, but she saw this as necessary. She wanted Yaan to grow stronger quickly so that he could assist her with the restoration of her power. She didn't want Yaan to become overly attached to this teacher of his, this man who was clearly manipulating him. Unfortunately, she still couldn't reveal the existence of the slave imprint, because she believed that Yaan would be unable to act naturally in front of Great Elder Wan after learning this fact.

All she could do, was attempt to steer his mentality with her demonic guidance. If she could urge him towards the darkness, convincing him that he could only rely on himself and that he should not become overly attached to his teacher and this sect, then it wouldn't be such a huge mental blow when he eventually discovered the truth.

From this point on, Great Elder Wan started using a cultivation equivalent to Yaan's own when sparring against him. Whilst Yaan had the advantage of his Peak 1-Star demonic body, he still continued to get thrashed time and time again. But, this was to be expected, Great Elder Wan's sword arts were far beyond his own after all. Now that Great Elder Wan was manipulating his Qi to enhance his speed and strength, Yaan fell back into the same helpless position that he had been in when they first began sparring.