"Ugh, it seems I've reached a bottleneck."
After diligent training for almost three months in a row, I finally reached the peak of my current cultivation and was half a step away from the first layer of the Corporeal Alteration realm. But after reaching this state, I encountered a bottleneck and have been stuck on it for almost two weeks now.
"Should I use the pill that the Fengs gave me?" I spoke out loud to myself, the Lesser Refining Box that Jie gave me was in my hands.
The lid was open and I could see the Layer Alteration pill that I had stashed inside since first I acquired both items. Unlike before, the pill had a little more abundance of qi fused within it after refining for three months.
"It's probably a waste to use it for the first layer. I'll hold on to it for now."
Until I was really stuck, this pill was to be preserved for other bottlenecks.
There was also a fruit, in the box, which looked like it had finished refining itself. Without wait, I took it out and replaced it with another to use the next day.
As I looked away for a moment, an ant climbed over the box and lingered vertically on its outer edge. I didn't notice it, placed the next fruit inside the box and was closing the lid when I finally saw it, slipping inside.
"Shit…" I panicked as the lid sealed.
Now I couldn't open it anymore or the fruit would lose its potency and no longer able to be refined. Shui Jie had once warned me that while pills could be exposed from time to time, fruits and other items had to be preserved without exposure until they were fully refined.
I hope the ant won't eat either the pill or the fruit until tomorrow. I need both for my cultivation after all.
Having nothing more to do and my cultivation on hold due to my bottleneck, I went outside where it had been morning already.
The 24 new workers were already here, following my father's instructions as per usual while Wu was waiting by the door for me to come out. He was kind of exempt from farming until I was done training with him.
"Good morning, young master!"
"Good morning, senior Wu. Had a good night's sleep?" I prepped myself.
"I did. Do you wish to train perhaps?" seeing the numerous gear I had with me.
Contrary to other days, today I had no intention to train at all. With my cultivation cut short, my sword training fulfilled and the two manuals given to me by my father fully mastered, I had decided to make haste towards the forest and hunt my first spirit beast.
Now that I could use the movement technique "Close Half-Step" effectively and a new martial technique called "Bone-Breaking Palm", I was considered eligible for most fights and even hunts against lesser spirit beasts.
In three months, I had managed to master two techniques and the sword style which Shui Wu practices. In terms of fighting strength and proficiency, I was on par with any other cultivator twice my age.
"No" I strapped leather bracers, my space bags and a headband to hold up the hair off my face. "I'm going on a hunt."
"Oh" he felt quite sad to be returning to farming labour, "do you want me to accompany you then?" his smile brightened anew, thinking there was a glimmer of hope that he would indeed join me.
I tapped my boots twice on the floorboard and shook my shoulders ready. I deescalated the steps before my house with much haste and went straight towards the forest, Wu following me closely to hear my answer.
"Can I?"
"Nah, I'm good" I kept my gaze forward so I would not be faced with a set of puppy eyes. "It is high time you joined your clansmen and worked for my father."
"But, young master you are—"
"I am fine" I cut him out immediately before the whining began, "I have already mastered your technique and am in no need of a babysitter."
Unsparing of a single glance, I remained on the same path, leaving him behind as he had halted his pursuit. He knew not to overstep his boundaries when it came to me and backed off as soon as I asked.
Finally alone. Let's get this hunt started.
The forest was not as gloomy as it always appeared to be as I rushed through it, my nimble feet making no sound whatsoever. With my mastery of the movement technique at its highest, my walking speed exceeded even that of wolves and other animals at this point of time.
(I had really grown in those few months.)
I leaped from place to place, vaulting over obstacles and tracing my eye to the innermost part of the forest where beast activity was at its highest during this time of the year. I increased the speed of the run, no longer discerning the obstacles passing by. Only pieces of brown and green I could discern.
Last time I was this deep into the lush flora, I got cornered by a group of bandits and was defeated pretty easily.
But now was a different story. Even if they came at me all at once, with their unmentionable cultivation and meagre inexperience, I would slaughter them like pigs in a matter of minutes. It was all thanks to the rigorous training I indulged in and the help of everyone's contribution that I came about to become the person I was currently.
Mother, father, brother Yun, senior Wu, senior Qiang, master Gudu, old man Ba and…sister Ling. Thank you all for your kindness! These debts, I shall never forget them my whole life.
"Hm. What kind of beast will I find in here?" I stopped myself on a tree branch and scouted my surroundings for any possible movement or clues leading to a possible prey.
I wasn't sure if I could take down a spirit beast on my own, or if I could even outrun one had I failed to do so, but in the end this was the purpose of my hunt today. I needed to get acquainted with the power scale of regular beasts and gauge how they were compared to my own. I need to acquainted with my own capabilities first too.
I had nearly forgotten how this place could be so full of vegetation that even the gigantic of creatures could be lost in the blink of an eye, like a needle in a haystack.
My eyes were set to full awareness and I only focused on finding myself something to hunt. If I was lucky, my quarry would only be of the 1st tier for now as I would be slaughtered if it was any higher than this. Even a beast of the 1st tier would be too hard for a lone cultivator…
But I wasn't any cultivator in any case…I hope I'm ready.
(Beast, beware!)
I stopped on the first branch I landed upon when I deemed myself deep enough within. Where I was right now, there were fewer trees and fewer bushes. It was still possible for some beasts to hide but at least now my vision was less burdened.
"Come on" I spoke in low murmurs. "Show yourself!"
My luck was good that day and my intuition all the better too.
Not soon had I spoken, rustling happened in the bushes and a figure leaped out, fleeing in the form of an afterimage.
"Oh no you won't."
I initiated my pursuit, making sure that nothing such as an ambush was set up by those beasts. In Chen Bei Ming's bestiary, I read that these spirit beasts do have some degrees of intelligence and could effectively set up traps just as good as humans would. With that bearing in mind, I chased the undiscernible creature, jumping by the trees, occasionally landing on the ground when one was too far to reach.
I saw the forest flash before my eyes, the images of my surroundings darting to the back just as before.
If one were to watch the play elapsing before them, they could only see belated images of a boy chasing an equally fast beast. That was how heated the pursuit evolved, almost to the point where I no longer held any regards to where my chase was leading me.
It didn't matter if we were to delve deeper to where the 2nd tiered beasts were, I was determined to catch the first prey I landed my sights upon and this poor chap was the unfortunate prize in my eyes.
I spent a few minutes at a monotonous pace, no distance gained on the fleeing beast and no confirmation on what type of entity it was yet.
At a certain point of time during the hunt, a stroke of light blinded me even though I kept running forward without ceasing. It was weird how such a phenomenon would occur right inside a forest. Not much natural occurrences could provoke such a concentration of light in the middle of a forest.
If I had to guess, there was a body of water ahead.
Should the beast be able to swim and escape, then my first and only target would be lost for now. I wasn't trained to wrestle monsters in aquatic situations yet.
(And I didn't want to soak myself…)
"I can't let it reach the water!"
One thing I had advantage over it, I had the mind of a king. Intelligence and wisdom were virtues of mine and I definitely had a plan cooked up the moment I realized the situation.
As soon as my feet touched the bare ground, using my movement technique, I dashed one serious step to the front, cutting up the distance like nothing.
Close Half-Step!
In a span of seconds, I gained on the scaled creature, finally discerning its appearance and identity.
It was an amphibious semi-scaled lizard, as I suspected, aquatic and fast enough on the ground due to its long leg and balancing tail. Fortunately for me, this type of creature was inoffensive and the type to flee at the faintest trace of foreign sounds. If I had met an aggressive one, my encounter would be much more cumbersome than this.
Finally a step away from the lizard, I held my fist and focused my strength into a palm strike, utilizing the newest of martial techniques I mastered during my three months training.
Bone-Breaking Palm!
Upon the touch of my attack, the lizard stumbled into the ground, rolling away at the same speed it was running with and slammed against several boulders protruding from the dirt. It heaved itself off the ground once the rolling stopped and gave another attempt at fleeing but…
My technique was not called bone-breaking for nothing.
Hit on the flank of its rear leg, the amphibious creature could only drag itself away from me, squirming and releasing cries of anguish. Its speed was no longer that great, I could outrun the wounded entity without relying on anything right now.
"Thank you for your sacrifice!" as I finally made my last jump, this time I unsheathed my sword from within my space bag and…
With a single slash to the throat, it fell harshly, dusting off a cloud of dirt with its fall. Wriggling still, choking on its own blood, I landed the final blow and relieved it of its suffering.
"You fled well little one."
I flung my sword sideways, removing the largest blood spatter off my blade and then proceeded to wipe it with a piece of cloth.
"Oof…" I raised my hand and wiped the sweat beads off my forehead. "my first ever beast!"
My joy was misplaced.
In its struggle to join the waters, the lizard managed to lure me towards an opening bereaved of trees and where only a giant lake was located. But that was not the worst part of the story…
Where the water was located, hundreds upon hundreds of other similar lizards drank, hydrating themselves from the heat. Now currently disturbed after hearing the last whimpers of their kin, they turned their gazes to me.
One such lizard was a coward indeed and fled at the first sight of a possible threat. But an army…
"Shit!"
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*Check the very first chapters at the very beginning for the Index*