Ryu Continent Hole of the Gods
Four years after the purge the clan was peaceful and definitely wealthier than the yesteryear. Turns out that getting rid of the spies and un-loyal clan members was just what the Tatsuo clan needed to excel in the cultivation world. They were able to internalize and organize their men better which means less loss of resources and a more united front towards exercises.
When Hiroto dragged back that elder four years ago he tortured out every rat that infested the Tatsuo clan. He even found a piece of void root on his body, a specialty of the wood sect that masks a cultivator's qi presence. While only a small piece, it signified how important it was for the willow wood sect to be allied with the Gallic clan and to also receive loads of weapons and armor, yet no one came even after four years.
The early part of these four years were nerve racking for Haru Tatsuo whose injuries kept him at early foundation-establishment he knew better than anyone else that right now the Tatsuo Clan was basically a paper tiger, Hajimi was highly talented yes but he still wasn't strong enough to shoulder the burdens of the clan especially against a rank 9 sect. It wasn't until he received some news from Hiroto that the whole situation was understood and abated. Two empires and several sects were waging war against each other for reasons unknown. It befuddled Haru but it was not his place to even think about it. Small fries like him basically didn't exist.
Haruki woke up bright and early the sun wasn't even out yet. It has been four years after his reincarnation into his new body. By now all of his movements were fluid and ironically enough he felt stronger here than he did when he was a teenager on earth In fact Haruki could have started walking when he was two years old and talking exactly isn't a hard thing to do for him neither but imagine him being so intelligent at such a young age? It wouldn't be such a good thing for cultivators while brave do also believe in omens.
"Four years before I could say a word!!! I can't believe how much patience it took to not speak and walk before it was time to do so. As soon as my body can take the burden of cultivation, I'll get back to earth and slaughter those assholes" Haruki hopped out of his bed and walked to his floor level bookshelf, the bookshelf was made with a wood that was bright red, and dust never seemed to collect on it. It was built when Haruki was two, ever since Haruki could speak he was highly interested in books, his first word was in fact book, It caused quite the commotion in his household Haru immediately clamping down information about Haruki, He placed his personal guards homes closer to his compound fearing the willow wood sect would hear word and be provoked into coming to the clan.
His older brother Hajimi was puzzled, Haru and Hinata his parents were ecstatic proclaiming him to be another genius of the clan, now it was mandatory that whenever Hajimi goes to Sakura city that he must bring his brother back a book otherwise he would cling to him like a leech, a plan concocted by Haruki . Grandpa sun almost directly kidnapped Haruki to the smithy so that he could learn how to forge, if it wasn't for the fact that it was too dangerous Haruki would have been an apprentice at three years of age.
It was such a huge disappointment to Haruki that he couldn't witness his new Grandfather forge but he also knew that things were different here, when people meant fire, it wasn't with a stove. It meant people in the clan heating up their clothes with qi if they had the ability to, or using stones that heat up pots and appliances, if that wasn't different enough then the combat training was something else. Haruki was no stranger to combat training but what was going on here to him was mind blowing. The Tatsuo Clan had about 250 guards that trained daily in a vast stone compound not all guard were there at the same time of course so it was almost always partially filled with warriors. Majority were weak low tier qi condensation cultivators which was ok for just guarding them against wild beasts and the average bandit, what blew Haru's mind was that here, martial arts seem to be exponentially harder to practice than it was on earth.
From the books he read and the exotic weapons & Items he saw the guards and warriors of the clan wearing it was evident to him that this world was highly interesting. Things like electricity did not exist but glowing rocks were everywhere so light wasn't a problem. There was no such thing as a T.V but these things didn't matter to Haruki he was more of a reader to begin with.
While he didn't have much surprise in the way of entertainment Haruki did have plenty of surprises in terms of his body. At first he was reading out of sheer curiosity of the world he was in but now he was looking to find out about what was going on with his body. Haruki had heightened awareness which on this planet is spiritual sense there was nothing within a range of five feet around his body that he could not sense and everyday it was getting stronger and stronger. While it did benefit him, Haruki could not explain what it was causing the situation to make him very wary, after all it wasn't like he could tell his parents that he travelled through interdimensional space before he could even walk or talk.
Yet Haruki was met with frustration time and time again none of the books depicted his condition. The situation almost drove him insane in fact it did cause someone to go insane! His parents and older brother especially were particularly puzzled, games like hide and seek were pointless to play with this kid he could find you no matter where you wanted to hide. Hajimi once tried to scare Haruki in his sleep when he had just turned four creeping into his room reaching all the way to his bed, only to find Haruki staring him straight in the eyes. Since then Hajimi quit trying to play games with his little brother, his parents simply called it talent.
Haruki after flipping through his book shut it slowly and carefully placed it back in the shelf. "I'll have to ask my father and maybe grandfather, hmm this isn't a casual situation to bring up. I will have to do this carefully and wait a few more years, so far it hasn't been a problem for me in fact my quality of life has never been better I mean honestly I can see behind my fucking head, this is better than X-Ray Vision!"
While Haruki was admiring himself with an evil grin on his face Hajimi was packing quickly so that he could go hunting with his squad there was also another reason for his speed it was because it seemed like his little brother always knew when he left his room at first it was cute, everyone took it for an unshakeable bond when little Haruki was crawling out of his room to cling to Hajimi. The past 4 years for Hajimi evolved from something cute to almost a nightmare it was uncanny and unpredictable, there was even once a time where Hajimi used his early foundation establishment to dash out of his house but still found Haruki hanging from his neck by the time he left the house it gave everyone such a fright. Why? Well because a foundation Establishment cultivator can move with enough speed and force to stop a train and this was when Haruki was only three years old.
After some scolding Hajimi made it a point to try and keep out of the way of his baby brother.
Hajimi after packing his spear tried sneaking out of the house, taking light steps. Hajimi began to creep down the stairs. Unbeknownst to Hajimi every move he made were being witnessed by Haruki, it was like a big joke to him. Haruki was already dressed by the time Hajimi's spear was put away, he was crouching in front of the door rubbing his baby hands together, just waiting for the opportune moment to arrive. "This time I need to see exactly what the outside world looks like, four whole years cooped up in this compound is enough to drive anyone mad."
As soon as Hajimi reached near Haruki's doorstep it was too late, Haruki dashed out with his baby legs and began to rapidly climb Hajimi who was simply too stunned to even move, he was stuck in a running man position dumbfounded. Haruki was already hanging from his neck. "Brother where are you going?" Hajimi stood up straight "To go hunting, which is something that is extremely dangerous, it's early anyway little brother you should rest." Reaching for the shuffling Haruki, Hajimi was planning to peel his brother off his neck and instead touched nothing but air every time he reached for him. In between dodging Haruki was making his point known. "Brother I want to go see the hunt, I'm always in the house father never allows me to go anywhere."
Hajimi couldn't believe his ears this time "Little shit you're only four years old, four!!!! What are you going to do on this hunt eh, if father finds out that I took you I'll be dead, if mother finds out I'll be more than dead. And if something happens there won't even be an afterlife for me!" Hajimi was basically pleading at this point. Haruki was just smiling "But big brother you're so strong nothing can happen right? Even father says that he wasn't as strong as you at your age" whenever pleading didn't work flattery would. His brother had a huge soft spot for flattery. Hajimi was pacified "he said that didn't he? You can come but remember not a word to anyone, too anyone! Do you understand? And please for the love of god do not leave me or the guard's sight." Haruki was ecstatic, he let go of Hajimi and began to jump around in excitement. "Once my body grows do you think you can order me around like this? Still, I am looking forward to seeing a demon beast, might as well make the most of the situation" Thought Haruki.
Hajimi and Haruki were standing together in the training field waiting on the rest of the hunting team to arrive. "Brother let go of my neck I can't meet the rest of the team like this" said a helpless Hajimi. Haruki simply ignored him while sporting a mischievous grin. "No this is only the beginning big brother". In the next second a small group of low to mid-range qi condensation warriors dressed in animal fur, carrying backpacks arrived.
"Reporting sir". Hajimi faced these men and put on as stern a face he could because the matter this time was not too serious but definitely something to worry about. Most of his men were already sniggering, Lin Tatsuo his right hand man was simply roaring in laughter. "Captain you don't mean to tell me that your bringing this little guy with you right." Hajimi, face red put his hands up in the air "He won't let go and we have to do this quickly before the Soju & Gallic clan hears about the situation. Listen up boys a few of the scouts discovered that there was a wolf king in the area."
Lin and the rest became serious. King Beast were demon beast with special traits they were generally bigger & Stronger than demon beasts of the same type and often had innate abilities to go along with it in other words they were extremely deadly. Haruki was stunned by the change of atmosphere. "It's just a wolf, what are they on about, there really must be more going on here than I thought!"
Probing, Haruki asked about the situation "Brother what's a wolf king?" Hajimi answered slowly so that his brother can get a grasp of understanding, the wolf king is the king of all wolfs in the outer region of Ryu Forest he is 10 times bigger than the others and can command them from as far as 1,000 miles away, A wolf king's power can rival mid stage foundation establishment and often late stage foundation establishment cultivators. They are born stronger than human cultivators at the same stage, do you understand?"
Many would think that explaining this to a four year old would be a waste but Hajimi knew better than most how intelligent his brother was, if there was no mistakes then his brother had a chance to become something truly great. Haruki nodded his head" Big brother I understand, how are we supposed to fight it though?"
We fight through team work the wolf king only has one weakness which is its soft underbelly, the fur that covers its body is harder than steel. While it may be powerful it is still only a demonic beast, I will be the vanguard using my spear to head off any attacks too powerful to handle, Lin will be on the left flank using his sword to change his trajectory and the rest will take the right shooting arrows at the wolfs eyes to limit its mobility and escape routes. Haruki took a closer look at Lin Tatsuo he must be pretty good for his brother to entrust such an important position to. Haruki Tatsuo puffed up his chest.
"And me older brother, what will be my job?" Hajimi's face darkened, his men were practically ready to burst with laughter. Hajimi simply grabbed Haruki by his collar and took off into the Outer layer of the Ryu Forest, Haruki immediately began to struggle like a rabbit to the amusement of Hajimi's men.