The next morning, before I could leave for the Di Yu Mountain range, my brother asked me to follow him to Divine Path Academy.
"Trust me," Jun Hai assured me with a smile. "We got this all figured out."
I decided to humor him and follow him to the academy, despite already having other plans. To my surprise, Li Wang was waiting for me at the school gate, looking a little guilty.
"Sorry about yesterday. Even though you saved my life, I couldn't do a single thing or speak up when the others are insulting you."
"You did actually speak up for me," I reminded him. "And it's not your fault that the others are jerks."
"Please don't blame them. They have been raised to believe that strength dominates the weak, and only the powerful can rule the world. Probably because of a lot of toxic influencers online promoting all the trashy web novels and manhuas with ruthless protagonists."
I couldn't believe Li Wang knew about those web novels and manhuas, and that he also abhorred them. Wow. The world was truly small.
"Anyway, we resolved your issue, big bro," Jun Hai spoke up. He nodded toward another person who was strolling toward us. I recognized the middle-aged man with neat dark hair and glasses, as well as a few wrinkles on his forehead. Teacher Jiao Shi, who managed another class.
"Song Jun Wen," he greeted me, wiping the perspiration from his face and smiling. "I'm glad to inform you that your expulsion has been waived. If you wish to remain a student in Divine Path Academy, we have a place for you."
"There are…conditions, though." Li Wang looked uncomfortable, though Jun Hai didn't look too bothered.
"I don't think big bro minds."
"Yeah, still best to tell him about them, though."
"I will." Jiao Shi cleared his throat. "Song Jun Wen, you'll have to drop out of the elite class and enroll in my ordinary class instead. We managed to fight for you to get a spot in my class, but it's only temporary. In the school tournament three months later, you will need to prove that you deserve the place by performing well in the matches against other students. You don't need to win it, just get into top fifty."
Given that there were over three hundred students in the academy, that was still quite the insurmountable task. Worse, I currently had no way of achieving such a feat now that I had lost my cultivation.
Whoever decided those conditions must have that in mind. They really wanted to kick me out.
"I'm sorry, this is the best I can do." Li Wang looked ashamed of himself, but Jun Hai shook his head.
"Big bro, senior Li Wang actually spoke to his father and pushed to secure you a place in the school. The conditions might not be too favorable, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. We'll continue fighting for you to stay here. In light of your achievements, there's no way they can…"
"The conditions are fine." I let out a relieved chuckle. "I'm glad I'm no longer in Teacher Wang Fei's class. She was…well, pretty arrogant. And my ex-classmates were mostly looking down on me. I'm fine with being in the ordinary class."
"But you'll still have to find a way to rank among the top fifty in the tournament three months later." Li Wang pursed his lips, concerned. "I'll talk to my father and see what we can do…"
"No, it's fine." I held up my hands before bowing my head. "Thank you, everybody. You have done more than enough for me. But I'll take care of the rest. In fact…" I grinned. "If they want me to get within top ten, I'll achieve that."
"Where are you getting that confidence from?" Teacher Jiao asked, astonished. I shrugged.
"Rather than confidence, I'm making a massive gamble. If I don't stake my life on it, then I feel like I wouldn't be able to achieve the impossible."
"Hey, don't be reckless," Li Wang began hurriedly. I shook my head.
"Don't worry, I will make sure to take care of myself. But…" I turned to Jiao Shi. "Sorry to ask for another favor after you guys have done so much for me. Do you mind if I take a leave of absence? Maybe a week or so. But I promise I'll be back next month, at least. Certainly before the tournament three months later."
If I didn't make it back then, I would most likely be dead.
"Jun Hai, I'll tell dad and mom later, but I'll be going on a journey for a while. I believe I might be able to find a way to recover my cultivation."
"Is that true?" Jiao Shi demanded, his eyes wide.
"How?" Li Wang asked, astounded.
"That's a secret for now. I'll tell you when I return."
"Stay safe, big bro." Jun Hai was concerned, but he decided to believe in me. He took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I know you can do it."
"Yeah. I'll let you know more when I get back."
With that, I turned to leave Divine Path Academy for the second time.
After speaking to my parents and letting them know that I would be embarking on a journey for some soul searching, I packed up and left my home. Taking the train all the way inland, I disembarked at a remote station before hopping onto a bus that came every six hours. The bus driver glanced at me wearily, a little surprised that someone was actually taking this route.
I didn't blame him. When I boarded the bus, I realized that I was the sole passenger. Dropping my bag onto a seat, I then flopped onto the neighboring chair and leaned back. I might have dozed off, but the next thing I knew, the driver was honking impatiently to wake me up.
"Hey, we're here! Wake up! This is the last stop! You didn't miss your stop, did you?"
"No, I wanted to go to Mo Men Village," I confirmed. Stretching myself, I adjusted my glasses and shook my head to clear it of sleep. Bleary eyed, I grabbed my bag and hopped off the bus while stifling a yawn. The driver muttered something under his breath before he accelerated away, probably to the terminal to park his bus so that he could go home or something.
I studied Mo Men Village. Unlike the hi-tech appearance of an affluent city such as Xia Hai, Mo Men Village looked a little rundown and deserted. A few of the dilapidated houses seemed constructed from wood, their shingles already decomposing and infested with moss. Untended fields were abandoned, weeds rampantly growing over crops and suffocating them. The houses appeared stretched out, and there wasn't an inn or a convenience store in sight.
That wasn't good. It was already late afternoon and the sun was slowly setting. Without a place to stay, I would have to camp out for the night. Even though I wanted to proceed straight to Di Yu Mountain range, the silhouettes and peaks just visible behind Mo Men Village, I knew it would be dangerous to wander about in the dark.
Suppressing my disappointment, I moved through the village, but to no avail. Never mind an inn, I couldn't even see any residents anywhere. No farmers or owners of the fields, just abandoned homes and rusting vehicles. Lots of the tools seemed unused for ages, with mold growing over their frames. I was tempted to break into one of the houses to see if there really was no one living inside them, in which case I could use them as shelter for the night.
But I decided against it.
"Ah, well…since I'll have to camp out sooner or later anyway, I might as well start getting used to it."
Despite my misgivings, I ended up heading to the Di Yu Mountain range anyway. As the sun dipped over the horizon and shadows stretched across the skies, I found myself gradually becoming unable to see. There were no lampposts or electricity here, and by the time the sun had fully set, it was so dark that I literally couldn't see my fingers in front of me.
The only illumination was afforded by the stars above and frequent flashes of red from the mountain range. Apparently, they were caused by boiling lava or the fire generated by the spirit beasts inhabiting this region.
I paused at that, cautiously making my way to an outcrop of rock. Right now, my cultivation was abolished. If I were to encounter a spirit beast – particularly a fire type – I would definitely die. Most likely, I would be incinerated completely without even leaving any trace of a corpse. It was best to avoid the spirit beasts and demonic monsters dwelling the area at all costs.
The further the distance I could keep from those burning red lights, the better.
Making use of the outcrop, I quickly set up camp while relying on the weak luminosity of a portable lamp. Once I finished assembling the tent, I crawled inside and zipped up the exit. Despite being close to a volcanic region, I still felt the chill from the night air biting deeply into my bones and causing me to shiver.
Praying that the spirit beasts wouldn't stumble upon my tent, I wrapped myself up in my sleeping bag and went to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, I was relieved to see that I was still alive. That said, it wasn't very surprising. While spirit beasts were certainly hostile toward humans, they didn't actively go out of the way to hunt us down unless they were seeking to expand their territory, or were driven out of their previous habitat by other predators or rival spirit beasts.
On the other hand, I had to be wary of demonic monsters. Unlike spirit beasts, these creatures that were saturated with foul, malevolent demonic energies were the very antithesis of humanity and would never pass up a chance to prey upon us. Fortunately, they were a lot rare, and the majority of them had been confined to the Dark Continent, thanks to the efforts of generations of heroic cultivators. I shouldn't have to worry about running into them here, unless a stray had slipped out of the tight security net.
What are the chances of that?
That said, I couldn't help but glance back at the village when I disassembled my tent. Perhaps the reason why it was totally abandoned was because no one was stupid enough to live so close to a habitat famed for its fire type spirit beasts.
The sudden roar of a bus engine drew my attention back to Mo Men. As I watched the vehicle depart in its daily route, something suddenly struck me. If this was a ghost town, then where did the bus driver stay during the night? Wasn't this his hometown? If it wasn't, then why would he risk driving to and from such a dangerous place everyday?
Despite the sense of unease that gripped me, I shook it off and returned my focus to the Di Yu Mountain range. Regardless of the bus driver's residence or reasons, my main goal was to restore my cultivation. I should concentrate on the task at hand, or I would get myself killed.
Taking a deep breath, I navigated the canyon, stepping into the steam-filled valley and looked around for any sign of danger.
"Gr…"
At the roar, I froze. Slowly looking up, I caught sight of a massive crimson beast trundling over a path circling one of the mountains, its flaming mane majestic and intimidating. For a moment, I dared to hope that it would continue down its path and pass by without noticing me, its wicked claws clacking nosily against the blackened rock, but it paused to sniff the air.
Then it turned its eyes in my direction and stared straight at me, the pupils resembling blazing rubies.