After walking for a while through the forest, Yun Xiao decided that he had given Little Gold the silent treatment for long enough.
"Mother is right, I need to be more vigilant. Mother always say that the world is a cruel place. I need to be stronger."
Soon the two of them came upon the large tree where all the treasures were hidden.
Once again, upon seeing all the Golden Dragon Blood fruits, Yun Xiao grew excited. He composed himself and first decided to make an inventory list.
It took about three hours for him to finally complete the list. There was 1523 Golden Dragon Blood Fruits, 500 different bottles of pills, 3 Swords, 3 Spears and 3 Sabres. He also found 10 skill manuals.
Luckily, there was the names and the effects of the pills written on the pill bottles otherwise Yun Xiao would have been clueless as to what the Pills were for.
'Mind Clearing Pills', Its effect is to help one completely focus on one thing without facing mental distractions.
'Scent remover pills' Its effect is to remove one's scent completely. Lasts one month.
'Invisibility pills' Its effect is to turn one invisible for the duration of half a day.
'Strengthening Pills' its effect is to increase one's strength tremendously. Results may vary between individuals.
'999 Poison Remedy Pills' its effect is to cure 999 different types of poisons.
'Hunger Pills' its effect states that just one pill can allow one to feel satiated without the need to eat or drink for the next 10 days.
Being too lazy to continue checking on the descriptions of each pill bottle, Yun Xiao's eyes next focused on the 3 swords. The Swords were placed upon the wall of the tree. He first tried taking the sword which blade was black in colour. The sword gave off a feeling that it has drank the blood of millions.
As soon as his hand touched the sword, his mind was pulled into an illusion. In the illusion, Yun Xiao saw that he was in a battle field. There were corpses of humans and beasts everywhere around him. Both beasts and human limbs and blood and gore could be seen everywhere. He continued walking until he saw a hill in the distance. He walked towards the hill. The stench of freshly rotting corpses made him stop and puke a few times. Upon reaching the hill, Yun Xiao saw that it was not a hill but rather piles upon piles of both dead humans and beasts corpses. All the dead corpses were piled up one on top of another and that is why it looked like a hill from afar.
Looking up to the top of the hill, he saw a man wearing a bamboo hat, the man gave off a very ancient feeling. He had bloodshot eyes which seemed to be able to pierce through the heavens itself. The man was holding the same sword that Yun Xiao had touched. Suddenly the man's gaze locked onto Yun Xiao. As soon as both pair of eyes locked onto each other, Yun Xiao felt his soul shake. Yun Xiao felt that he was just a grain of sand in an enormous desert. The killing intent that radiated off the man's eyes made him shudder with fright. At the same time, Yun Xiao felt a burning desire. the desire to surpass this man.
"This is the feeling of power. The feeling of being able to look down on every other creation. When can I be able to do the same?"
Fear and desire coursed through his blood, body and soul. The desire took root in Yun Xiao's heart.
The man then spoke,
"Young one, you are not ready for The Executor's Sword just yet. I can feel your fear as well as your desire to reach the pinnacle. I am lonely. I look forward to the day that I can have a heart stirring battle. All my opponents cannot last beyond one strike of mine. Grow stronger young one and come challenge me. Looking at your eyes, I anticipate your growth. Perhaps I should raise you and train you so that I can have my heart's desire. To have one true battle. Is that too much to ask for? Perhaps it is fate. After thousands of years travelling the many worlds looking for worthy challengers only to find none worthy, perhaps the heavens are telling me that there are none who are worthy and that the one who will be worthy is someone I raise and train by my own hands. Speak young one, Do you wish to master the sword? "
Yun Xiao stood bewildered. The arrogance from this man knew no bounds. As Yun Xiao was contemplating, the man spoke again,
"Decide now!"
"You want to raise me just so that you can have a battle that stirs your heart?"
"That is correct! It is my one and only desire."
"If I were to accept being trained by you and should I lose to you when we have our battle, will I be another one of the corpses you are standing on?"
"Hahahaha, normally I would say yes but i fear that if I say yes and you do not agree, I do not know when another one with potential like yours will come here again. So have no fear, I will not take your life if you lose the battle. However, if you slack or show little to no progress, I will take your life. The inheritor's of the Executor's Sword must be outstanding. Now answer me, are you willing?"
Yun Xiao was ecstatic. He had the oppurtunity to learn from someone who had no equal. Without delay, he answered with 3 kowtows.
"Teacher, thank you for accepting this useless disciple. Disciple is called Yun Xiao and disciple will do his best to not let you down."
"Hahahaha, never would I have thought that I would raise a disciple. Good,good good!
Xiao'er, from tomorrow, everyday you must come here and train. Not only will the environment here help you improve faster, you will also be able to gain your sword will easier here. Go now, teacher needs to prepare for tomorrow."
"How do I come back here"? Yun Xiao asked.
"The same as you did today, just touch The Executor's Sword. I will be able to detect it and pull you in here. Now go!"
With that, before Yun Xiao could ask anything else, he suddenly woke up.
"Was that a dream?"
His body was drenched in sweat. Looking at the Executior's Sword, he could still feel a lingering fear. He decided not to touch any of the otherweapons lest a similar scene were to happen again.
Looking around for Little Gold, he found that Little Gold was sleeping. Not wanting to stay near the weapons any longer, he moved back to the Golden Dragon Blood fruits.
"I had needed to do only two things in this one year. One is to improve The Heavenly Body Reconstruction skill to as high as i can. Two, to improve my bow skills. Mother did remind me to work on my bow skills. Now I have to learn Sword lessons from my demon teacher as well. Ok, that settles it. During the day time, I will hunt and hone my bow skills. And in the evening, I will focus on the Sword. At night, I will focus on cultivation. Luckily I saw some 'Hunger Pills'. Those should come in handy if I fail to hunt. I shall start cultivating with the Golden Dragon Blood fruits immediately."
Yun Xiao took one of the 'Mind Clearing Pills' and one Golden Dragon Blood fruit. That night, he felt so focused that he refined far more energy threads that he normally did.
The next morning, Yun Xiao opened his eyes after all the energy threads had been refined. The effect of the 'Mind Clearing Pill' was tremendous. He could go on to refine one more Golden Dragon Blood fruit but chose against it as he still needed to improve his bow skills. Looking for Little Gold, he saw that Little Gold was still asleep and was in such a deep sleep. Little Gold was sleeping with its mouth open. Looking at this sight, Yun Xiao could not resist the temptation. Wanting a little pay back but not wanting to be too cruel, Yun Xiao made up his mind when he say a few fire ants.
"These little ants packs a stinging bite but its not poisonous or deadly. They are perfect!!!."
Tiptoeing towards Little Gold, Yun Xiao carried a branch with him. At the end of the branch was the fire ants nest. It was a newly made nest, thus it was not too big and was the perfect size needed for him to complete his deed. Looking at Little Gold whose mouth was still open, Yun Xiao gently lowered the nest into the gaping mouth of Little Gold. Little Gold was probably dreaming of food because as soon as the nest touch its lips, Little Gold automatically started to chew on it. Yun Xiao immediately backed up and waited the for the fireworks that was about to come.
Little Gold opened his eyes so suddenly and jumped right up, spitting out the contents of its mouth. There were many fire ants coming out from its mouth. Little Gold screamed and immediately took off, running desperately towards the lake. Yun Xiao, seeing Little Gold's reaction, could not help himself from laughing so hard until his stomach hurt.
After a while, Little Gold came back. Its eyes tearing, its mouth swollen. Yun Xiao immediately felt bad upon seeing Little Gold's condition.
"I am sorry Little Gold, but I could not help myself seeing your open mouth. For so many years you tormented me. Today is payback. Hahaha."
Little Gold did not say anything only looked at Yun Xiao with a sad look.
"Ok, stop sulking Little Gold, let us go hunting now. With every successful kill, you do the skinning and I will do the cooking."
Hearing about food, Little Gold's mood lifted.
The two of them went to the lake. Knowing that the lake is the primary source of water for many animals, Yun Xiao believed that here was the perfect place for hunting. He found a tree where he climbed up and stayed hidden.
"The Bow is a weapon that is launched from the darkness and shadows. The target dies not knowing who killed it. The Bow is the perfect assasination tool. It kills from a great distance. Love your Bow and the Bow will protect and kill for you."
Yun Xiao continuosly repeated the above verse as if it was a mantra. Mother had told him that this verse is the essence of the bow.
Patiently he waited. Not long after, a huge bronze back tiger appeared. The bronze back tiger is one of the apex predators of the forest. Not many animals, creatures or beasts dared to face it.
Yun Xiao looked at the bronze back tiger and shook his head. It would be suicide to even think about hunting this creature. He lowered the bow. Just then, he saw the bronze back tiger lift up its head from drinking the water in the lake. The bronze back tiger then turned its head and looked directly at the spot Yun Xiao was in. Yun Xiao held his breath. If the bronze back tiger were to get angry, he could only flee.
Luckily, after looking at Yun Xiao, the bronze back tiger ignored Yun Xiao. It continued to drink water from the lake and after it had its fill, it disappeared back into the forest.
"This cannot do, the animals sense of survival is strong and the slightest movements and the animals will be wary. Moerover, the wind carries trace of my scent. This is not perfect hunting. If i continue like this, I will definitely anger some of the sronger beasts that come here. If it happens to be a dangerous beast like the bronze back tiger, my life can be forfeit if i do not manage to flee in time. I have to think of a better way"
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the pills.
"Thats right, i have the 'Invisibility Pills' and 'Scent Remover Pills'. Those should be able to help me tremendously.