Entering the forest Xue Mo split apart from the group and left in the right direction with Lu Yao.
Looking at his fleeting back, Amro had as always started to incite hatred. "See, I told you he wouldn't come with us. I even heard that your friend begged him to join us. But, he only ignored him and let him kneel."
Amro said that as if he was there, wherein truth, he heard that Deckim knelt in front of him without detailed info. He did that to not only sow hatred in the trio but also to show how Deckim was pathetic for kneeling while Xue Mo was a bastard for ignoring him.
However, his plan didn't work as Kyle and Axel defended, "Actually, that's just the usual Sir Mo. He isn't the talkative type." Axel, who usually liked to be silent, said while scratching his head, his eyes looking sideways, trying not to look Amro in his eyes.
"Axel is right. When we met Sir, Mo before, he was also like that." Kyle added, supporting what Axel said. He looked so sure of himself that even Amro almost dropped the subject.
Witnessing his plan starting to fail, Amro continued, "But, what about him letting your friend kowtow without even saying anything. I heard that he continued drinking his tea, not bothering to look at him."
Amro was someone who always thought of himself as smart. So when he saw his lies failing, he decided to mix some truth in the lies that way he would be even more believable.
At that point, even Axel and Kyle didn't have anything to retort, making him happy. 'I got them,' he thought while smirking inwardly.
"Isn't that the usual way Sir Mo acts?" Lara, who had been silent all this time, said. She was wearing a turquoise dress. Her hands were crossed while she was tapping her chin with her extended right hand, pondering.
As if they had just been enlightened, Axel and Kyle raised their brows and looked at each other while thinking, 'Idiot.' They smacked their heads and said at the same time, "Lara is right. That's something that Sir Mo would do."
Amro was getting frustrated by the second. He didn't know how they knew the guy that he was trying to defame as, every time he tried, one of the three shut him down. "How do you know this Mo guy again?" Amro demanded to know through gritted teeth.
Kyle decided to answer. He put an amazed and respectful expression as he retold the story. "It was like that. We were going to the forest a week ago trying to level up. When... And, that's how we met Sir Mo."
'So, you only met him once and for a week. How the f*ck do you know so much about him then?' Although he thought that way, he kept his thoughts to himself while appearing understanding on the outside. He started thinking for more ways to vilify Xue Mo.
***
"Hey, Mo. I bet you that, whatever his name was, that shady guy is trying to slander you in front of the other guys." Lu Yao sat on Xue Mo's shoulder while stretching. She appeared to be sleepy.
"Who cares what these guys do? Yao, could you please act your age." Xue Mo said in an exasperated tone.
Over this year, he found out that because she wasn't able to connect to anyone before, Lu Yao was always an unsociable loner who didn't feel anything. But, because she finally found someone to talk to, she had been more active. Her emotions were starting to surface, and although that made him happy for some reason, he tried to let her act her age. After all, she was a thousand-year-old woman; she should behave her age.
'Wait, now that I think about it, aren't our personalities a little similar? Yao said that before, her emotions weren't always closed off. Other than the time she was with her mother, she had rarely felt emotions... Isn't that a little similar to me? I also rarely showed emotions in my life. But, ever I met her...' Xue Mo felt that he was about to catch onto a critical thread, but the low forceful growl caught his attention.
"Why does this aura feel similar?" Xue Mo unconsciously muttered.
"It's a demonic beast. Like the one from before." Lu Yao said solemnly.
'Another demonic beast?' Xue Mo thought while remembering.
***
"Xue Mo, can you stop meditating all the time? We agreed not to use our special energies, and you know I can't use mine anyway!" A feminine voice resounded in the cave, Xue Mo and Lu Yao were staying at. It was Lu Yao who had been sitting doing nothing for a while.
To her request, the young man sitting across her remained silent, ignoring her. This was how they had spent the first two months after arriving at the Ash Expanse. Other than going out every day and testing Lu Yao through different methods while helping her catch food, he released a small amount of his Shadow Soul Pressure and meditated on it.
At first, he thought with his experience in sensing energy and controlling it due to his previous cultivation realm, he would be able to understand at least a part of it—but to his disappointment, he was wrong.
Every time Xue Mo tried probing, testing, and even delving deep into it, he felt like something was blocking him. Stopping him from being able to get to its core, but he knew that once he started cultivating his soul and breaking the seals, he would be able to learn some of the secrets of the energy.
Seeing that what he was doing results in nothing, he decided to finally start checking how the 'system' works, in hopes of trying to find a way to break free from its hold.
After putting the Shadow Soul Pressure on the side to study later, he didn't immediately get up but instead started examining Mana, trying to understand how it works.
At first, Xue Mo took things easy and just wanted to check the method. He wanted to see how far the mana control technique that Lu Yao had given him could be pushed. Only then could he break it apart and reconstruct it in a way that suited them.
Time went by fast while Xue Mo concentrated on the Mana, understanding it's characteristics, and, how he could best utilize it, in the end, he found something that shocked him.
The way the Mana control technique worked was the same way the soul cultivation techniques did. This made him think and try to find what the connection between them was. To his surprise, he discovered that the Mana controlling method and the soul cultivation technique had similar attributes.
What he theorized was that while Mana control was about mastering Mana, and soul cultivation was about nurturing the soul, Mana could help nourish the soul as well. However, he wanted to be sure before doing anything, yet he didn't have a way to confirm it.
Moreover, according to Lu Yao, Xue Mo had found out that the energy in the place that they were currently in was too low. This didn't surprise him. After all, he noticed that although Arch energy in this forest was small, it was higher than what he used to feel in his previous world, it also felt more... complete?
He didn't know how to explain it, but he knew that he would be able to feel a substantial change in his overall capabilities when he cultivates this time. That was also why he hadn't started till now.
Getting up from the ground, Xue Mo dusted his white robe that had accumulated dirt due to sitting for a long time. He looked at Lu and said, "Let's go." Xue Mo said.
"Where?"
"To get started on leveling up or whatever. I want to check something!" Saying no more, he started walking out of the cave leave Lu Yao sprawled on the ground.
'Tch, stingy guy. You could have offered me a ride as payback.' Lu Yao thought before following behind him.