Ch. 14 Strong beasts

Ren's long awaited adventure he had waited a whole month for. His cultivation increased, and his sword skills improved. Ren did not spend much time with elements as the stones he had received had no uses as he was maxed out in their completion. He also did not have any elemental skills and was barred from using it in the outside world.

Roughly an hour away from the shack he encountered his first beast. It was a hyena at the late 1st stage. Ren took its life with one swing, making its neck turn into a blood fountain.

His trip towards the inner parts of the forest was relatively smooth. Only encountering 3 beasts all being in the 1st stage. easy targets for him.

Diving deeper into the forest he used void eyes to see any traces of strong beasts when he suddenly felt immense pressure. the hair on his neck raised but before anything else happened he used his cloak to go invisible.

The pressure was gone immediately as he turned around to see an ape with a club dropping from a tree with vigilance

[Drunkard Ape: Mid 2nd stage. WARNING: Host must be able to kill in one move or else you will receive a lethal attack]

'f*ckin hell'

Ren circled around the ape while concealed looking for the best way to drop it in one move. 'Cut the ankles? slice its neck?...'

[Cough Void eyes Cough]

[Weakness: eyes- minor lethality, throat-mid lethality, liver-instantaneous death]

'I'm somehow not surprised'

Ren readied his sword ready to pierce the beast's stomach right where his liver was located.

'3...2...1.. GO'

He pushed his blade into the beast and as soon as it touched the ape the best let out a cry

EEERGHKK-

The sound was cut short and the beast ceased moving a second later.

[Completed weekly mission, Receive rewards?]

'yes'

[Obtained- Immortal Alchemist's Cookbook: The greatest Alchemist to exist in all immortal worlds compiled his knowledge into this Cookbook. Will appear in the family library but but only in book form, inheritance form is host use only]

A surge of information assaulted him, he learned pill refinement, poison creation, learned of all herbs that the immortal had recorded and finally, the real prize from this, True fire. Condensing qi and being able to use fire from his own hands to make pills.

'System is this the fire element?'

[Yes and no, you are able to use true fire to a limited degree, it could be said that you have a sliver of fire element comprehended]

'ahh, I see. So you're saying I can get fire stones from my daily missions now? that's great because I've been running out of space to put these useless things'

[Storage Upgraded 20m->5km cubic space.]

[Elemental Stones can now fuse into Elemental Orbs. 100 stones creates 1 orb.]

'System is benevolent, System is kind' Ren bowed to the imaginary system in his mind.

[Go home scoundrel, Miss Meng and Mei will be worried]

'alright'

--------

Back home Mei was teaching Meng all about the cultivation world, she showed a similar scene that Ren had seen not long ago, she took it much better than Ren did and only grimaced slightly.

Mei asked about her past and after hearing that Meng's parents were murdered she saw red for a moment.

"As much as I want to destroy the person who did that to your family, I will let you have your own revenge. Just know that nobody can touch you now, you are safe here. Ren's mother is gone but we should take you to see his grandma, auntie and little sister at some point. Rui was just born less than 2 months ago so waiting a while doesn't matter too much if we see her now or at a later date. Ren has come here to train his skills and search for opportunities, you need some as well. You have no shield to hide your cultivation from others. You need a physical combat skill, do any weapons interest you?" Asked Mei

"Well I used to train with gauntlets, after the family seal I feel like anything is suitable. I would like to train in the sword or spear as those two weapons are a class above others" Meng stated

"You are right, however, any weapon trained to perfection can create great power. I'll bring out as many as I can think of for you to look at, maybe you'll have an affinity with something."

Mei laid out weapons on the table. There was a sword, saber, scythe, whip, sash, mace, dagger, gauntlets, axe, cudgel, staff and spear.

Mengmeng looked at the weapons and took interest in the sash and sword. They resonated the most with her.

"Sister Mei, I am interested in the sash as well as the sword. I feel the sash could be used for defense and sword for attacking." MengMeng said

"Yes the sash is mostly used for defense and constriction. Your sword should be trained in all aspects to create a good foundation for skills you might use in the future." Mei said

At that moment Ren walked in. "Oh Meng'er! You're going to train in the sword too? That's great! Hopefully I will get some more sword skills in the future and fill up the library. By the way you should check the library! There's a surprise" Ren grinned at her.

[Family library: Heavenly H**** scripture, Immortal Alchemist's Cookbook]

"Did you just get this?" asked Mengmeng

"Yup! Just completed my weekly quest and received this as a reward! It's pretty amazing, take your time to study it because the knowledge it contains will be helpful when we go out into the wilderness." He exclaimed

------

Just like that a year flew by, Ren and Meng had matched cultivation. Both at the peak of the 6th tier. Ren's could go head to head with any 2nd stage beast while MengMeng could face off against early 2nd stage beasts. The forest outside of Shanghai had done its job in tempering the two. Ren had Maxed out his 4 elements, Light, Wood, Fire and Sound. While MengMeng had her Light and Fire maxed out. It took her much longer to figure out how to condense qi into flame from the Alchemy book but she managed it in a few months.

Ren was 5 years old and MengMeng wasn't a day over 14 still. Mei had taught them enough for them to go out for weeks at a time. Life was peaceful and tranquil. Ren was itching to go against stronger enemies and asked Mei "Can we go to a place with stronger beasts? I feel as though my progress has stagnated."

"Mmm. I have two options for you. We can go to a place populated with stronger beasts or we can go to the Kunlun mountain range where many martial artists from different sects gather to compete for resources. Things may get ugly and lives will be at stake but your growth could explode. You and MengMeng will need to join a sect as cover otherwise many will target you. Rogue martial artists have it tough in this world."

"Yes, let's go there. I want to fight stronger enemies regardless if they are beast or human." Ren said

'System, i would like to use another once in a year spin. Meng'er has no weapon nor defensive treasure. I've given her a teleport talisman but I'm not comfortable with just that'

[tsk tsk. Going broke for a woman, you're a scoundrel but at least you care for your family]

[Obtained the Flame Sword seed and Life sword]

'Thank you'

[You paid me so why are you saying thanks?]

"Alright sister Mei, I will look for a suitable sect but I'll need your help in traveling there"