The Parting Gift

Chapter 105

The Dark Forest is a huge place where many demon beasts lay claim on an area and treat it as their homes. On the outskirts of the Dark Forest lays a huge formation, where many people are currently staying.

In this group of people, an argument is happening as one side is trying to accuse the other on something. Unknown to them, a group of three people suddenly appear in the middle of the formation inside the Safe Zone. The three people are all women, unlike the rest of the group which was teleported out who looks worn out. The three women look fresh and clean, and all of them are clad in white cultivator's robe. One of them is a woman bearing a regal and refined appearance, her beauty deserves her title as a princess of the Xi Empire.

When Yun Bo Xi and her two maids appear, they saw what happened.

When the two girls who were called by a middle-aged man suddenly fell to the ground, an expression of shock appears on her face. Though nobody noticed it, she clearly saw and feels what the tall man they called the First elder did, it was a Spiritual sense attack.

"Princess, that guy…" the woman wearing a white veil suddenly looks as Yun Bo Xi while trying to say something but stopped when she saw the princess lifted her hand.

"Sigh… Sia Rong, there are people in this land which is like my big brother. It's just a guess but I think that one they called The First elder of the Nian clan has a very strong mental power." Yun Bo Xi said calmly.

In the cultivator land, spiritual sense attack is a very profound skill that uses one's concentration and spiritual sense. But the thing is, one should form a mind space before they could force a strand of their spiritual sense to attack another's mind. Now, this technique is very hard to execute as it requires one to have an innate talent when it comes to spiritual sense control.

The use of spiritual sense as an attacking technique is divided into several stages.

The first stage is the Mind Pressure. This kind of spiritual sense attack utilizes brute force to knock out or stun one's target. Since one is still unable to accurately control the spiritual sense attack at this time, the attack would enter one's opponent mind and send it to a shock. But the higher the opponent's cultivation the lesser the effect of the shock.

The second stage is Mind Control. This kind of spiritual sentence attack utilizes a simple connection and control between the user and the target. Though it would only last for a couple of seconds at first but once mastered it would last longer. Again the higher the opponent's cultivation the harder it is for someone to control the other's mind. Sometimes it would reverse and the risk of destroying one's mind when using this skill is really high.

The third and the last stage is Telepathy and Telekinesis, this is where one can already control the spiritual sense to the extreme that it can already manifest by the will of the user. This is the hardest but the most powerful stage. This is one of the most powerful abilities of a Diety. Once a cultivator became an immortal Deity, he will naturally develop this ability.

The 2nd prince of the Xi Empire was found to have a very strong mental fortitude. When he was young, he was discovered to have strong mental ability. At a young age, he was able to exert mental pressure to others. When it was discovered, he was immediately trained by cultivators with high control with their spiritual sense. Then as he grew up he became a very strong warrior and was feared in the battlefield due to his use of Mental Pressure. Since then Prince Li Yan Xi became a famous and an undefeatable warrior on the battlefield.

...

As Yun Bo Xi recalls her brother's prowess, she can't help but shake her head. If the First elder of the Nian clan truly has that ability then he is like a tiger hidden among the pigs. But this is of no importance to them so she decided to leave and go back to her brother as she already got what they came for.

While the commotion is still going on, the group of Yun Bo Xi walks out of the Safe Zone area.

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Forest, a figure is currently frantically running away from many shadows following behind. Her tattered and bloody clothes showed the suffering she has gone through so far from those who are chasing after her. The figure is Ya Nian who is currently being chased by a pack of mutated Black Wolf.

When her group was about to be teleported out they were discovered by the pack of demon beasts. But when the people with her suddenly disappear she immediately panicked. She now has an idea of why her older brother hit her with that strange power. That technique is the key to disrupt the rune etched inside the robe. She started cursing Wei Qi Nian for being too despicable and cowardly, but then she didn't have time for that now.

After she was left alone, that was when the mutated Black Wolves began pouncing at her like crazy. Using her sword she parried every sharp claw coming at her. But because of the large number of wolves, even though she was able to dodge and defend many of them but not all. So in time claw marks and shredded clothes began to appear on her body.

Without a choice, Ya Nian ran as fast as she could so that she may escape her predicament. She began using her life-saving scrolls while escaping.

While panting heavily she quickly traversed through the thick and maze-like woods. Not long later, Ya Nian was able to find a particular place. The place is void of any demon beast presence; she even saw from the distance a demon beast suddenly stopped and then cowardly ran away from the area. She became curious about the place so she went through the thick bushes. Upon entering, her senses were immediately assaulted by a burnt sulfuric smell which is present in the air.

"This… This is the territory of a Flame Sky Snake." Ya Nian muttered as her face suddenly showed a horrified expression.

She knows what a Flame Sky Snake can do. In the books she has read from the clan, it is considered as one of the most dangerous demon beasts living in the Dark Forest. In terms of ranking, it would be considered to be in the top 50. With this discovery, she immediately wanted to run away to preserve her life, but then before she could take a step she suddenly discovers that her vision is turning blurry.

"Oh… No! I… I think I've lost… a lot of… blood. Ugh!" She muttered as she fell on the dry leaves covered ground.

…

Deep inside the Dark Forest inside a cave sat three figures.

After Shin Jiao finished repairing the runes in their robes, he set up a manual control for its teleportation function. He knows that once he activates the runes they would immediately be teleported to the Safe Zone. If the people in the clan saw them, then it would be truly disastrous especially for him. With the discovery of the artifacts in his hands, his life would surely be done for. Especially if those high-level cultivators will make their move on him. So he needs to bid his time and regain his cultivation first.

Since he has already decided to leave, Shin Jiao asked Zen Nian and Rat Ling to hand him the rapiers he casually made. He wanted to give another parting gift.

"Well, as my parting gift. I will make two new proper swords for you." Shin Jiao said with a faint smile.

With that said he took out two demon beast cores and started to remold the two weapons. He crafted a short sword with the capability to use the two attacking skills he taught them, the Humming blade and the exploding Qi he called Bursting Point. The short sword should be able to immediately resonate with the Humming Blade skill without too much burden on the user's concentration. While the Bursting Point can be executed immediately at will, also without much burden on one's concentration. This will be possible due to the presence of the demon beast core which would serve as the weapon's energy booster.

As long as the wielder of the weapon is not a nascent cultivator, the swords will be able to handle the power and would not easily break. Same with the demon core being used, as long as it is at max a level 4 demon beast core the weapon can handle the amount of energy. On the sword's blade, there is an indicator which would tell the user about the energy level. Once it turns red then there is a possibility for the weapon to break.

After Shin Jiao was done crafting the weapon, he began to explain the various parts and purpose of the weapon. He then tells them how to use the cores and everything.

While listening to Shin Jiao's explanation the two could not help but gasp in disbelief. The weapon they are holding right now is something that can cause people to envy them. Though it looks like an ordinary short sword with a unique handle as it is a little curved but other than that no one can suspect its uniqueness.

"This weapon is truly magnificent. I thought it was just a normal sword, but looking up close it is truly unique." Zen Nian muttered as he scrutinized the sword that took Shin Jiao almost half a day to make.

"Young master look at this!" Rat Ling suddenly said as he waves the sword towards a huge rock not too far from them.

With a casual wave and a little Qi input, a small Qi blade was actually sent as a projectile.

When Shin Jiao saw this he too was dumbfounded. He didn't actually expect the weapon to have this kind of effect. Then after thinking for a while he nods his head as he discovered the reason why.

Due to Rat Ling's overwhelming Qi in his dantian, the sword was able to produce a very strong revolution which would fly out as Rat Ling releases his control. The stronger he exerted the Qi the farther the Qi blade would fly. At that time since Rat Ling just casually waves the sword, the Qi blade just flew out but didn't reach the huge stone.

"Rat Ling, try to put some effort into it and hit the huge stone." Shin Jiao suddenly ask as curiosity suddenly filled his eyes.

Rat Ling didn't think twice and just followed what Shin Jiao asked. But then when he released the control a strong and thick Qi energy shot out of the blade like a white rapid spinning wheel. When it hits the huge rock it actually passes through and cut the rock in half.

"What! This is too awesome!" Rat Ling shouted as he excitedly ran towards the huge stone and checked.

"What happened? Why is it too powerful?" Zen Nian asked in awe.

"Young master Zen, you can try it yourself." Shin Jiao said while extending his hand.

Thought still confused and in awe, Zen Nian followed Shin Jiao and stood up. Then he set his sight on a short tree with a thick trunk. Zen Nian then controls the Qi in his body and tries to visualize something in his mind. After doing so, Zen Nian suddenly swings his sword twice with blinding. Then all of a sudden the tree not too far away was cut into four pieces.

Though Shin Jiao couldn't see anything, however, he can feel that there is an invisible projectile that was sent containing Zen Nian's thin strand of pure Qi. It's like he sent the Humming blade skill flying out of the short sword.

"Wow, young master! You are really amazing… I wish that I can do that too, that way my opponent can't see what's coming for them." Rat Ling said with glowing admiration in his eyes.

He didn't even care about his own prowess and that his Qi blade projectile was even more powerful the Zen Nian's.

Shin Jiao, on the other hand, felt a little envious of the two and can't wait to recover his strength. Yet he is happy to be able to repay the kindness he receives from them.

As of now, with those skills, he is confident that they can now face anyone, as long as the other party is not a middle stage gold core realm.

While thinking Shin Jiao was interrupted and suddenly turns his head towards a certain direction. As the one who created and controls the huge formation, he suddenly detected someone entering it. Zen Nian immediately noticed the changes in Shin Jiao's expression.

"It seems that we have some guests…" Shin Jiao said with a frown.

He had set up the formation with the help of Zen Nian and Rat Ling. The two didn't know the purpose of the array because Shin Jiao just gave them some stones with runes carved in it and some instructions. When they found a small cave, they formed a wide circular array using the rune stones. This array formation that Shin Jiao taught Zen Nian is an illusion array, but a low level one. If a cultivator is a level 3 array formation master then they can discover the simple array.

Once inside this simple illusion array, senses would be immediately tricked. Even a level 4 demon beast would not be able to detect any anomaly inside and would truly believe that a very powerful Flame Sky Snake truly lives in this area.

Right now Shin Jiao suddenly detected a pack of level 2 and level 3 wolf-like demon beasts entering the array. So he feels a little confused as to why they have the courage to do so in spite of the danger. So without a choice, Shin Jiao decided to investigate what's going on.

"We'll go with you. Let's see what's happening." Zen Nian said as he followed Shin Jiao.

Rat Ling also nods his head and followed after them.

As the three of them arrived in the area, they were dumbfounded. Two packs of mutated Black Wolves are carefully creeping through the trees.

Though the Black Wolves can't detect their presence, they didn't dare make any sudden movements and just watches from afar as the around 20 plus mutated Black Wolves carefully crept towards a single place.

When the three followed the path the wolves are taking, they discovered a person laying on the ground, and it seems to be a woman. Her robes and clothes are tattered and almost gone, while her body is covered in blood and riddled with wounds. They could not see clearly who the woman is as she is laying with her face on the ground.

"Who is that?" Rat Ling asks as he craned his neck trying to discover who the woman is.

"Should we help her young master?" Rat Ling added with a hint of concern in his expression.

…

The group of mutated Black Wolf slowly enters the area where the Flame Sky Snake stays. When they first found the traces of blood from their prey entering the territory of the Flame Sky snake, the wolves actually hesitated. So the group went back to their cave and not long later they returned with another pack in tow, but that's not all, this time the alpha male is with them.

With the presence of a strong leader, the wolves decided to push through and enter the supposed territory of the Flame Sky Snake. Once inside they started to sniff out the traces of their prey.

On the other hand, Ya Nian is on the ground barely conscious. She didn't want to die in this place but her body won't move. The only thing she can do is wait… wait for her own demise.

With that thought tears actually slowly slid down her eyes falling into the dry leaves covered ground. In her mind, the only person she wanted to see right now before she would leave this world in the face of Zen Nian.

"Zen… I wish I could have said something… I didn't know that this would be my last day… If only I could have talked to you before the clan trials." Ya Nian's thought began to be muddled.

"If I will have another chance… I… I would… I would have never let you…" Before she could think further, her consciousness suddenly left her as her mind became muddled and started recalling things from the past.

It was the day when her father came home from his trip. On that day she saw the most beautiful boy she has ever seen in her life. And her childish heart started to throb.