Ace nearly jumped from the sitting position in delight as he didn't dare to believe what he just heard and asked System in excitement, "System, are you telling me that I can earn EXP by killing these beasts?"
"[Yes! If the host kills any living being with QI or Soul QI, the host can earn EXP and Soul Points.]"
The system answered his question without asking for TP for the first time in a while. He nearly cried from the happiness.
He thought the system had finally changed its wicked ways for the better and asked again, "Did this mean I can ask any question, and you won't ask for TP anymore?"
"[NO! Since the host found this method on his own, the system answered this question for free.]"
The system crushed his happiness in an instant.
Ace thought weirdly, 'Why didn't I feel shocked by this anymore.'
Anyway, he was thrilled after making this discovery about EXP and SP. He looked at the dense forest, and his eyes twinkled, 'Hehe, this place is filled with EXP!'
---
Ace and Eva traveled through the forest for ten days. The reason for the delay in their journey was Ace's obsession with demonic beasts.
Every time he saw or even felt the presence of a demonic beast, he would chase after it. If it were at a Qi Foundation Building realm, he would escape with Eva. But if that beast were only in the realm of Qi Gates Realm, he would always hunt it down. He even managed to kill a peak-level Qi Gate beast with Eva's help.
Because of these continuous battles, his technique and skills improved greatly. He finally understands the meaning of being a weapon cultivator.
'The more I fight, the more I can understand the weapon technique and improve my skills quickly.' He thought gleefully.
Eva's skills also improved with her lineage inheritance memories and a little bit of Ace's help. She always saw him fight using his Dual Shadow Swords technique and learned a lot about how to use Qi with swords just by watching him; she admired him even more after seeing him in action.
Today, they finally came out of the vast forest extension and saw a tall red mountain in the distance. That mountain was unique in the entire land of cities; it was also where the 1-Star Red Mountain City was situated!
Ace couldn't help but grin after seeing the Red Mountain in the distance. But he was even more pleased about something else: his EXP!
=====
[EXP: 2010/5000]
=====
Since he had killed many higher-level demonic beasts, he had earned quite a lot of EXP.
Ace also found that he could get more EXP if he killed a demonic beast in a higher realm than himself. He earned 100 EXP in one fell swoop when he killed a peak-level demonic beast. Furthermore, every time he gained EXP, his Heavenly Qi became denser.
But he still felt it was a shame that he didn't get any SP in this whole journey. He had already reached the peak of Yellow Wind Core and had sufficient SP to break through to the next level. But the problem was he had to gain insight into this realm first before he could break through to the next Soul Cultivation Realm.
"Ace, look, there's a carriage!" Ace was still deep in thought when he heard Eva's sweet and exciting voice.
He saw a carriage in the distance, which was slowly moving forward on an avenue. 'This must be an avenue that led to Red Mountain City since these types of roads can only be built near a big City.'
Ace became excited after seeing this carriage on the avenue because he knew they weren't too far from the city.
"It seems like we have already entered the territory of the Red Mountain City. You should get ready." He said to Eva in a knowing tone.
Eva smiled sweetly after hearing his meaningful words, and a blue mist formed around her goddess-like face. After a moment, her beautiful face completely changed into another simple face. She looked completely different from before.
This was Ace's plan to make her change her appearance before entering the city. After all, from the experience in his home city, he was afraid that with looks like Eva, she would definitely attract the attention of others and not in a good way either. Although she still looks beautiful, not as much as before.
Seeing her changed appearance, Ace nodded in satisfaction and said, "We don't have any identity crystal cards. That's why we have to sneak inside. I'm confident I can sneak inside without any problem, but I'm worried about you."
"Humph! Don't worry; my Shadow Devil Clan's technique isn't inferior to yours." She retorted with a huff, but inside, she was quite happy after seeing him worried about her.
Ace didn't say anything; he just laughed lightly. After traveling with her for ten days, he knew better than anyone that if someone underestimated her just because she was a seventeen-year-old girl, they would lose their lives without having a chance to regret it!
After 30 minutes of walking, Ace gazed at that avenue in the distance. He was vaguely able to see large walls at the peak of the mountain and the Red Mountain City's huge gate, which was not too far away from him.
---
The red mountain was like its name suggests: completely red. There was a legend about its red color; people of the city tell stories about an evil cultivator who used to live in this mountain.
One day, he sacrificed thousands of people to cultivate his cultivation technique. Blood flowed in this mountain like a river, and it turned crimson because of the curse of the innocent people whose blood bled in this mountain.
But many people didn't believe in this tale because if this mountain was cursed, then why the hell this city is a 1-Start City?
Many people believe this mountain has some mysterious natural treasure, so it turned red.
Many people, including the cultivators, wanted to solve this mystery. Still, they couldn't because they had to go inside the City Lord Mansion territory if they wanted to search for the treasure.
The City Lord Family occupied half of the entire mountain peak, and no one was allowed to trespass into their territory if they valued their life, that is. To this day, whoever had stepped inside the territory of the City Lord Mansion without permission had all vanished in thin air!
After those curious and greedy people who wanted to search for treasures saw all those people vanish, they completely gave up on their curiosity or greed.
Some stubborn and malicious people who thought that the City Lord was hoarding a great treasure alone even went as far as to report this to their overseer Kingdom and some stronger 1-Star Cities.
Still, no matter how much they reported or tried other methods, the Kingdom will never act. It even seemed that it was protecting the entire city from other cities as well.
After that, everyone gave up completely, and the Red Mountain's treasure became an unsolved, untouchable mystery.
---
Ace and Eva stopped at the edge of the avenue, which was situated near the forest. After resting for a little bit, they put on black robes with hoods that Eva had prepared before their departure. After all, they were going to invade a 1-start city.
Although the night was dark, a gentle moonlight shone upon the land. This gentle, pale light allowed people not to be engulfed in utter darkness. In the moonlight, like dark shadows, two silhouettes silently appeared outside the prosperous city.
Red Mountain City was vast and surrounded by thick walls.
Ace looked at the massive walls and the moat outside the City. Many people were entering and leaving the enormous city gate, and many soldiers stood on the city walls.
Next to the gate were many guards; they were cultivators checking other people's identities.
Ace scanned those guards with true & false eyes and saw ten guards; three of them were at the peaks of the Qi Gates realm, and others were at the fourth or third gate, respectively.
"Wait for a chance and follow me closely. Don't fall behind, or we have to flee into the forest and might not have another chance if we alert them." Ace chortled as he whispered to Eva in a joking way to reduce the pressure on them a bit.
Eva didn't say anything. She also knew that despite being at the peak of the Qi Gates, she was still inferior to Ace, who was only at the 3rd Gate.
Ace's eyes were fixed on the people who were going inside the gate and those coming out of it.
Ace also noticed with his soul sense that those guards were relaxed and didn't do their job that seriously. They only check their identity crystal with the big stone, collect the entry fee, and don't pay much attention to them afterward.
Suddenly, he spotted one big luxurious carriage followed by two small carriages moving towards the gate.
Ace saw those guards abruptly abandon their posts and hurry towards that luxurious carriage.
"Now!" Ace singled Eva with his hand, used stealth and silent steps, and drifted towards the unguarded city gates like a loose arrow!