9 - Into The Dark

Take a deep breath, hold it and let it out slowly. A puff of greyish smoke left his nostrils and Xuan Wen opened his eyes.

Currently he was sitting cross-legged on the floor mat, his upper body bare and glistening with sweat and odour that would've one pinching their noses from the pungent stink it carried. Despite that however, one could not deny the beauty of his firm and lean muscles.

Five months had passed since they had left the clan. Xuan Wen, now at the peak of Viscera refinement realm was vastly different from his past weak self. Not only had he grown physically but also mentally in this timeframe. Just another week and he would step into the Bone refinement realm. Nearing the peak of Foundation Establishment.

This meant he was ahead of his schedule and could probably reach the peak of Marrow refinement in another five months. Two months earlier than expected. Not to mention his killing rate increased with each day and he grew stronger and faster with every passing day.

He stripped naked and went to take a bath, scrubbing his body clean of the impurities he was expelling. Once finished, he strapped his gear and left to have breakfast downstairs. By now he was basically a resident customer to the Inn he was renting.

He had a hard boiled lizard soup and vegetable broth, alongside white bread and ale. Finishing his breakfast in less than ten minutes, he bid the innkeeper farewell and went about his hunt.

...

Wu Xing felt for his soul force and channeled it outside his soul body and the cauldron. The world came into view and he intangible flow of Qi that was caught by his senses. He pulled at this and source of this flow, but the world resisted. Wu Xing sighed.

Even after five months and with so much beast essence, he was still nowhere near his breakthrough. "If only I had taken all that beast essence for myself, then...," He shook his head.

If he had done that, Xuan Wen would have been nowhere where he was now and the original spirit of the cauldron wouldn't have recovered as much as it did. Not to mention that there was no certainty in him breaking through even if he had consumed everything by himself.

"Thanks to that however, the cauldron is bit better everyday and the spirit is recovering. At this rate, it should wake up right after I breakthrough to Soul Spark Creation realm."

His gaze wandered to the neat pile of Blood beads. There nearly thirty of them. He moved ten infront and focused. The essence that was bound tightly came undone, like strings of wool unraveling. Wu Xing set his entire focus on these strings, marking each and every one.

He pressed his soul force at a single point, the string grew taut and vapours started rising. As the time passed the strand grew thin. He repeated the process for all the innumerable strings that danced around his form.

Once he was done, he pulled them all in a swirl of suction force. His soul force mixed in every strand and what was left was another bead.

Instead of a red one though, this one was black. It gave no shine or glossiness but instead seemed to suck all light around it. Wu Xing smiled at his success. 'Now this is a proper [God Beast Essence].'

What Wu Xing held was a compressed [Ancestral Bloodline Essence] that was mixed with his soul force. As the bloodline was more than culmination of blood, it was force that bound the soul body and mind. Thanks to his soul force he managed to extract a teensy portion of dormant fox bloodline and by merging it with this soul, it came close to something akin to a watered-down version of God-beast Bloodline.

'When the time comes, these will prove useful.' Wu Xing sat the Dark bead aside and focused outside, finding the boy already nearing the forest. As the boy had grown under his guidance and his own perseverance, he didn't feel any need to observe continuously. He focused to refine another bead.

...

Slash! Thud!

Xuan Wen put his sword on the ground and hurriedly collected the blood that was gushing out like a water hose. These wolves were always swift and quick on their feet, like a gale that move through the leaves. Hardly ever did his killing go easier.

Once done, he moved deeper. Long since has he moved from his river-bank creatures and was now actively seeking prey, thus his intrusion into the inner areas of the forest.

Nightshade forest lay right at the foot of Rising Wind mountain and most of the hilly area came under the domain of [Buddhist Virtues Holy Land]. They were influence on par with Xuan family, but comparatively speaking, they were a lot better.

Buddhist Holy Land had an extensive history that spanned tens of thousands of years. While Xuan clan on the other hand was pretty new. In fact the Buddhist Holy Land was older than some of the Upper tier influences like [Thunder God Mountain].

Nightshade forest was thus regarded as one the most precarious lands to exist on [Sky Sword continent]. Only those who had reached the realm of [Energy Condensation] were confident in moving deep into the core area.

Xuan Wen had no intention of moving deeper, as he understood the risks. Although the saying was, 'with greater risks came greater rewards'; it was only true to a certain extent. Once the line was crossed it could no longer be called courage but instead greed and foolishness. And young he may be, but he was no idiot.

Culling the beasts was easier as the time went by, his every move forming a thread like connectivity to his former attack. Every bit of blood was collected in the flasks and whenever he caught a fox, he would pour the blood into the cauldron. Thanks to that however, his cultivation speed went up. The spirit really wasn't lying.

A breeze blew past, rustling the leaves; Xuan Wen frowned. There was a certain hollowness to breeze, like a whispering wind coming not from above but below. It carried with it a faint odour, one that he instantly recognised.

Dealing with blood for the past few months, his nose had become keen to sense blood. He followed the faint traces and came upon what looked like a cave. "Why is the smell coming from there?"

Xuan Wen squinted his eyes too peer into the darkness, but he could not see beyond a few meters. Rubbing his chin deep in thought, he took a appraising look of his surroundings. Finding no trap or imbalance in the nature, he decided to move forward. He still had the spirit with him, what could go wrong?

The cave was dark, and humid. A putrid smell of dead corps, mixed with mold had him pinching his nose in disgust.

"Senior, can you sense my surroundings?" He spoke loudly, his voice echoing in the hollow space. He saw his drawstring pounch glow more prominently in the dark before a voice arrived in his head.

–"What is this? Where is this? Weren't we in the forest?"

Xuan Wen winced at the annoyance carried in the voice. It seemed he had distributed the spirit from important work. Well, no point in dwelling on the spilt milk.

"I found a cave when I was moving through the woods and decided to give this a once over."

A tired voice replied, it's sharp edge replaced by the gentleness, –"Didn't I warn you to not wander into suspicious caves and holes?"

"But that's how I met you."

"You dare use my own words against me, just do as I say. Anyway, I don't sense much from the surroundings. How far in are we?"

Xuan Wen hadn't stopped since he had first step foot inside. And already five minutes had passed. What a weird cave, how deep did it go? Was there a treasure at the end?

"I am not sure, but I have been walking for five minutes now." He gaze fell on the puddles of water and ghastly purple vines. How did these grow underground?

"What? That's pretty deep. Let me take another look."

Xuan Wen nodded his head and stopped near a purple vine with a cluster of berries growing on its shoot. His hand moved toward i–

–"Get out of here now!"

Xuan Wen startled, pulled back, his foot falling upon a pebble. And as he fell, he saw, a purple snake with red eyes jump from within the berries. It's mouth open, fangs dripping poision.

With practice and instincts honed over months, he automatically pulled his sword from his hip. It's sharp edge glinted in the air and he saw his face reflected on the side. Xuan Wen saw fear.

"Wa-What happened?" His voice came out more floundering than he would have liked. His heart beat thousands paces a minute, it knew, He knew.

–"There is an array formation concealed in the rocks in here. But it's not just that, the air itself is foul and poisonous, the very Qi emanates evil presence."

Hearing the words only deepened his fears and Xuan Wen found to his horror, his arms and legs shaking. Not fear, he realised. 'A gaze, a serpentine evil gaze,' his face twisted into grimace.

He pushed his body up and ran towards the entrance. He needed to make it out of here, no he needed to leave this forest too. Because this place...

...was no doubt a Demonic Lair!

Xuan Wen ran straight into the wall. His nose bled from the impact, his eye barely avoiding the sharp rock jutting out of the wall. 'What happened?!'

–"Be careful Xuan Wen, there's some sort of hallucinogen in the air."

'What?!' Xuan Wen felt his heart skip a beat. 'This, this is no cave, it's a trap!'

"Oh my, what a young prey I have caught." He stilled. With bated breaths, his head moved to his right where he had come running from.

There it stood, the source of that evil gaze. It was dressed in dark and shabby robes, parts of it burnt or patched. Its cowl hid its hair but he saw the pale yellow eyes, rough wrinkly skin and crooked black teeth. It was grinning.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Gu Yen and could be considered what you call an evil cultivator. Pleasure meeting you."