In a couple of weeks, Qing Shan had fallen into a certain rhythm. He would spend his nights in the Primal pocket dimension, use the Primal Water as a substitute for food, then train with Xuri Qiang from morning until the time he would go back to Dusty Heights to drink.
Over these few weeks, Qing Shan and Xuri Qiang did not actually become any closer to each other. They had not even shared a drink. This was due to the fact that Qing Shan was advancing too quickly.
As someone who has always been called a genius, sparring with Qing Shan was a real wake-up call for Xuri Qiang. The kid was only a few years younger than him, and six levels of cultivation behind him, but Xuri Qiang felt pressured by Qing Shan during their training. Although Qing Shan still had never beaten the Eldest Young Master, he had come close.
Qing Shan had become quite used to this new routine, and felt himself enjoying it. He personally had thought that training with Xuri Qiang would only be helpful for a little while, but it turned out that Xuri Qiang was actually really strong. Qing Shan had never landed more than a few hits on him, but when he did hit the man, it was always a good strike.
However, Qing Shan did not think that he was improving much at this point. For some reason, no matter how he trained at this point, he knew that he just did not have the capability to beat Xuri Qiang. And seeing how Qing Shan had only really been training his body for the past few weeks, he was nowhere near a breakthrough.
Thus, Qing Shan decided that it was time for a change. Luckily, Qing Shan had the perfect idea of what he wanted this change to be. Now, all he had to do was run his thoughts by Senior Teng. After all, Qing Shan trusted the man and would not hesitate to abandon the idea if his Teacher had a better one.
Qing Shan was currently walking to Senior Teng's shop to get his opinion. Qing Shan felt a little weird, because the first time that he was visiting his Teacher's store in the past few weeks was actually to set up an arrangement that would distance himself from his Teacher even more, however, Senior Teng was just Qing Shan's Teacher, and not his Master. And it is not uncommon for Students to overcome their Teachers and achieve greater heights; It was common for good students to walk into the Heavens while their first Teacher was still a mere frog at the bottom of a well.
Qing Shan walked into Senior Teng's shop and went to the back, unsurprised to see the old man toiling away at the forge.
"Oh, Qing Shan, what brings you here?"
Qing Shan knew that he did not need to play anything safe with his Teacher, so he immediately cut to the chase.
"I think that I need a change."
"A change? What has Xuri Qiang already outlived his worth to you?"
"To put it bluntly: Yes. It is not that he is no longer a challenge, it is merely that there is no sense of hostility when fighting him. While there is a good amount of competition, there is nothing really pushing me to grow. I think I would do best in an environment where I have to stay on my toes at all times."
Senior Teng smiled softly, making a joke while seriously thinking. It was amazing how he could do three things at once: talking, thinking, and forging.
"What, like a political marriage? If you don't stay on your toes at one of those you will anger more than just a few influential people…"
Qing Shan did not know how to respond to his Teacher's joke. He had never really been involved with marriages, much less politics.
Suddenly, Senior Teng spoke.
"While I understand where you are coming from, training like you are describing is not something that just jump into ignorantly. You should have a training location in mind, a method, not to mention supplies…"
Qing Shan patiently waited for his Teacher to finish before answering.
"I know. I have already prepared almost everything that you have mentioned, and sunk more than just a bit of thought into my plans. While I will not tell you everything I plan to do, I can tell you that I plan to go through the South Gate."
Senior Teng went still for a moment, deep in thought. However, he soon sighed.
"The South Gate, huh. I hope you know what you are getting into boy. But since you can look so serious while talking about the South Gate, I can tell you have looked into this as much as you can. But remember, once you are out there, do not try going too far north. While you can go around the Pit and keep going north, you will come across people and beasts much stronger than you can fathom. For now, stick to the south and the east. You can try going west too, but you probably know better than I do what lies in that direction."
Senior Teng was right. Qing Shan had originally been planning to just explore after leaving the South Gate. He had not given much thought to the geography around the area, and when he might have gone too far.
'I will listen to you on this, Teacher. I will only go South and East. There is no point in training if I die before I can get strong enough for my revenge.'
Clenching his fists, Qing Shan nodded to his Teacher. He had a lot of things to do if he wanted to go through with his training regimen.
After leaving his Teacher's store for what may be the last time for a long while, Qing Shan made his way to the Northern District. He informed Xuri Qiang that he would not be able to spar for a while, and tried to give the man some motivation.
"Hey Qiang. You better train hard, because I plan on coming back and repaying you for that beating once I am done training."
Qing Shan felt that this was definitely the best way to make Xuri Qiang motivated, because the man's muscles tensed, and a look of steel determination appeared in his eyes.
After talking to Xuri Qiang, Qing Shan headed towards the Arena. This would be his first time entering as a spectator.
Qing Shan watched Yuan Long and Su Yuesha fight, and them informed them that he was leaving. While they were sad to see their drinking buddy go, they were pacified when Qing Shan told them that they could drink all the wanted on his tab for the night.
After training through the night as per usual, Qing Shan decided to go to the Southern District of the city before leaving. He was not only going there because that was where the exit into the wilds was, but also because there were information brokers and plenty of information about how much X animal meat would go for on the market. He would also be able to find which parts of beasts would fetch a good amount of money. Qing Shan had already memorized all the minor plants that he would need for making runes, so he would pay attention to those too.
After talking with more than a few information brokers, Qing Shan headed towards the South Gate. It took him almost half an hour to walk from the South District entrance to the South Gate. This was because the South District was actually the largest district. This was not a surprise to Qing Shan, because he had already known that the South District was known primarily for farming. However, the fact that he had to walk for thirty minutes was still a surprise. He had underestimated the size of the South District.
When Qing Shan finally reached the South Gate, he saw a few guards on patrol. Seeing that he was planning to go through the gate, some of the guards looked away in pity. However, the guy in front started to talk.
"Boy, I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. I don't know how much strength you think you have, but let me tell you, there are far more beings at the Origin Soul level out there than in here."
Qing Shan just looked into the guard's eyes and proceeded through the South Gate.
The guard slammed his mouth shut. That one look from Qing Shan told the guard that this boy knew exactly what he was getting into. However, there was not an ounce of hesitation in Qing Shan's eyes. They were filled only with determination, excitement, and small amount of fear.
The guard watched Qing Shan go, before reluctantly sighing. While this boy did seem to be something special, it was always depressing knowing that people were unknowingly walking straight to their deaths.
Unknowingly, the guard was right about one thing. Qing Shan was filled with both fear and excitement. However, this was for a different reason that anyone other than him would be able to fathom. This would be the first time in his life that Qing Shan had complete control over what he was going to do.
As a child, Qing Shan had just done whatever he was told. His first taste of something close to freedom was the time that he was crawling back to his ruined town. However, back then he did not have complete control of his body, and his thoughts had been only focused on survival. From there, he was taken in by Master Liu, and was in a controlled environment at all times. Finally during his time in Rising Sun City, Qing Shan had come to feel a certain amount of freedom. However, a routine can definitely be considered a restraint on freedom.
Now, however, Qing Shan was preparing to step into an area that was entirely free from any control. He was about to step into nature itself. Qing Shan did not know why, but he almost felt true freedom. If only he could feel like this after he got revenge for his family…
With one final breath, Qing Shan took a large leap through the South Gate.