The training grounds were large, with many training dummies spread around the stone ground. There were racks of training weapons lining one side of the field to prevent dummies from getting destroyed by strong weapons.
Maxwell grabbed a spear that was similar to the spear he had acquired earlier that day and headed to any empty dummy.
'It went like this and… this' He adjusted his footwork while recollecting the diagrams.
He nearly lost his balance after forgetting to adjust the position of his arms.
'Uh, my hands go like this I think.'
He then performed the first stance slowly without any qi just to validate it. He felt his stance was unstable and tried again after slightly adjusting his posture. This time his posture felt stable, and the attack felt proper.
'Now with qi.'
He performed it fluidly while controlling his qi as directed in the scroll. A blast of qi shot out from his spear, sending the dummy flying into an unfortunate cultivator.
"Hey, what was that? Watch what you're doing." The cultivator shouted back at him. The dummy had a deep dent from the attack, but the dummy was made of quite sturdy materials, and it didn't get destroyed.
'I could destroy the dummy if I used more qi, good thing I held back.'
Maxwell practiced the same stance 500 more times while putting a temporary formation on the dummy, so it didn't get hit flying away. It took him an hour to perform it 500 times. At the end of the hour, he was tired and coated with sweat that glistened on his skin under the bright sunlight.
He took a short break to consume some food and then rested. Once he felt his stamina recovered, he got up and stretched himself before heading on to the second stance, like this by the end of the day he had mastered the 5th stance.
He was delighted at his progress, but he knew tomorrow would be daunting if he was going to train from the 6th stance and onwards. He decided to rest early after a hearty meal, but he first headed to the bath to wash off all the sweat that made his skin sticky.
The bath was so relaxing that Maxwell nearly fell asleep. He dragged his half-asleep self out of it and dried himself before quickly changing into comfortable clothes and going to sleep.
The next day he went to the mission hall to take a mission for some points. He was also going to use the opportunity to test the Dragon Devouring Spear Style against monsters.
He browsed the board filled with the missions. Most involved killing a certain Spiritual Beast or searching for a certain herb. There were some larger missions that required students to group up, like escort missions or subjugation of bandits.
Maxwell chose a mission that required him to investigate a part of the forest next to the mountain. He was instructed to find where all the reportedly missing people had gone to and if he could rescue them.
Nobody had taken it since it would be a long and tedious mission. They would also have to fight a lot of beasts till they located the missing people. He would get 5000 points for completing it and 15000 if he rescued the trapped people.
He took the mission after giving his name to the person there in charge of maintaining the records. He was given a crystal to record his findings on.
'Arion, come to where I am.' He spoke to Arion via their link from the contract.
After a minute, Arion appeared with his wings causing strong gusts of wind to blow Maxwell's hair everywhere.
"Maxwell, you didn't forget about me, did you? I was waiting for 2 days."
"How could you say that I forgot about you? "
"You didn't contact me at all."
"I was busy."
"I was waiting for 2 day you know."
"Okay, sorry."
Maxwell got onto the leather saddle, and they took off.
"Where to?" Arion spoke into Maxwell's mind.
"Go to the Red Forest! I have a mission there." Maxwell shouted as Arion glid above the sect.
"Okay, you have to show me around the sect's town after this."
"Sure."
The forest wasn't far, and they reached it soon. The forest had only towering Sequoias, that nearly reached the clouds. The trees were all red, hence the name of the forest. Each tree was very large, with a circumference of a kilometer.
"If someone carves into those trees, they can make a grand house."
"That won't be easy, every single tree is Rank 6 material, they are very tough."
"Wouldn't there be people cutting pieces of it then?"
"They fear the forest. There are rumors of trees coming alive and monstrous Spiritual Beasts who eat humans."
"Then we're in for a fun adventure?" Maxwell grinned, ready to have fun.
An hour later.
"Ughh, where are the Spiritual Beasts? It has been nothing but silent?"
Maxwell groaned while kicking a rock.
"They are already here it seems." Arion said while looking at the tree branches.
Immediately they were surrounded by black figures with metallic claws, ready to attack him.
"Invader, capture him!" One of them ordered the rest.
"Hey now, don't touch me, that's rude."
Maxwell swiftly dodged their scratches with their claws. The one attacking him was stunned for a second.
"You can speak our language?"
"Yes, I can. I don't mean any harm, there's no need to attack me."
"Everyone stop." The one who had given the orders earlier spoke up.
"What do you want human?" The female voice then asked, filled with scorn.
"Don't be so angry. I'm just here to do my sect mission."
"We will see the authenticity of those words. Come with us first, if you resist, we will kill you."
"I'll come."
The warriors that surrounded him quickly scaled the tree while running.
"Woah, you're excellent at climbing trees."
The leader grabbed Maxwell by the collar of his shirt and dragged him up. "We don't need your false compliments."
"Hey, don't be so rough. My fiancé gifted these to me."
They finally stopped, on a branch that rested high above the ground. It would not be visible from the surface with how dark the forest is.
Maxwell was dragged like a convict and then pushed into a small room made of wood before the door was locked. The person who dragged him there finally removed the mask and hood covering her face. The dim lighting revealed a pair of feline ears with a human face.
"What! You're a Beastkin!"
"Huh, you didn't know. I thought you were here to spy on us."
"I didn't even know your existence, why would I spy on you?"
"You want to capture us and sell us to those filthy men." She bared her fangs at him in anger, "You violate us and use us like cauldrons."
"What do you mean? I've never heard of such a terrible thing."
"All will be revealed once our leader forces the information out."
Some fruits were given to Maxwell before she left.
"Guards, can you tell me more? I'm curious about the topic now."
The guards ignored him and stood in front, vigilantly.
"I'll give you cultivation materials. You can't unlock my spatial rings if I die."
Maxwell offered Rank 3 pills to the Core Formation guards. After much reluctance a guard took it.
"For the past 2 years, females from our tribe have been getting captured and sold. Some also disappeared in the depths of the forest."
'Disappearances? Is it related to my mission?'
"What lies in those depths?" Maxwell asked curiously.
"Many tribes, there are lizards, spiders and even trees with spiritual intelligence."
"Trees! So, the rumor was true."
Maxwell thought of various possibilities with his newly gained information. He had come to many outcomes already when he was made to come out from the small hut.
"The leader wants to meet you."
Maxwell was escorted through a town in the trees, with everything made from wood and lights with glowing fireflies that didn't have cultivation.
He got a lot of killing intent directed at him as he walked through the town. He noticed many depressed families bare their teeth and claws at him.
'It seems that some greedy and powerful people have done bad things.'
He was taken to the grandest house here. It was on the main stem with an outlook on the other houses. It was simplistic like everything else they had.
The entourage that escorted Maxwell halted before the doors and knocked.
"Leader, we have brought the young invader."
"Enter." A hoarse voice spoke from inside that seemed to be filled with sadness.
Maxwell walked in, admiring their craftmanship and carving skills. The atmosphere in the room was very scary, with powerful killing intent directed straight at him.
"Woah, stop. I never hurt anyone."
"Stop everyone, he's a child."
'Huh, I'm a child? I'm already 14.'
Arion was already in the room and looked back at Maxwell with a face that said "Good Luck."
'This is going to be bad.'