In a matter of hours, Elder Ying reached the hunting grounds of the Huang family, deep within the Nine Peaks. Huang Cixi had chosen a wide valley lost between several mountains. Such a location was forming a natural array formation. And the valley was way denser in Qi than Baziyun City. The mountains through their very existence could easily generate and condense Qi from the Heavens. Then, it would naturally flow through nature and be carried along water streams. But the natural formation of this place made it act like a small reservoir of the Qi condensed by these mountains.
Hence, there were many precious herbs, and demonic beasts were a bit more powerful but also less aggressive. Considering that they already received a lot of Qi naturally, they were less inclined to risk their own lives in order to devour cultivators, or other beasts. Of course, there were still predators. But they would be way more cautious. Most of the time, they would not attack unless someone entered their own territory. The majority of demonic beasts were very territorial and would instinctively attack any intruder, no matter the location they were living in.
Seeing this beautiful valley, full of colors and brimming with life, Huang Cixi was overwhelmed. Such a valley looked like it belonged to another world, a world of true heavenly immortals. Any fruit she would randomly pick would be full of a Qi purer than some low-level pills she could buy. Although Huang Cixi was the granddaughter of the current family head, she had been raised in the small Yinmen City. And such views were absolutely unknown to her. Even during her time in the Wubei Sect, she had stayed within the walls all the time and had seen nothing as extraordinary.
As they were getting closer, Elder Ying progressively reduced his speed. At the same time, Huang Liyue took out a red fan. With a swift movement, she completely opened it and threw it into the distance. Imbued with her Qi, the fan levitated into the air and she jumped on it with grace. Now that she was standing on this red fan, it rose higher and higher, until her spiritual senses could cover all the valley from her position.
By the time Huang Liyue was where she wanted, Elder Ying had mostly stopped his flight and was landing on the ground. Once again, his wings flapped and folded the grass and the flowers under him. Some small animals and a few 1-core demonic beasts ran as far away as they could. Right now, an existence way superior to them all had just arrived. The moment Elder Ying touched the ground, the area all around him was deserted.
Just before Huang Cixi jumped off from Elder Ying's back, she heard a telepathic message from Huang Liyue.
"Unless your life is in immediate danger, I won't intervene. Since you want to train, you should experience genuine danger. However, just call for me at anytime if you want my help."
Looking up in the sky, even with her senses, Huang Cixi could hardly distinguish her bodyguard. She was only a small dot in the sky, drowned away by the light of the high sun.
"Thank you, Senior Huang Liyue. Do not worry, I won't be reckless." Then, Huang Cixi turned toward Elder Ying. "Thank you as well. But, could you fly away a little? You'll scare off all the demonic beasts if you stay by my side..."
A small sadness, accompanied by the realization that it was true, lit up in Elder Ying's eyes. This time, with much less spectacle, he flapped his wings and rose into the air. In order to keep observing Huang Cixi, he circled the sky at a lower altitude than Huang Liyue. Even though a 9-core demonic beast could contend with a Spirit Warrior, such beasts had no spiritual senses. But their instinct and their intelligence were way more developed than those of lesser demonic beasts. Elder Ying stayed high enough so that the demonic beasts would not get scared away and low enough to keep observing Huang Cixi.
To begin with, Huang Cixi took out her weapons. She had the emblematic weapon of their family, an iron fan, and a very light sword. An iron fan as the name suggested was a fan whose frame was made of metal, not necessarily iron though. Concerning Huang Cixi's fan, the frame itself was made of Bin Iron, a metal that was know for its great durability and its resistance to fire. Both were necessities for the Huang family. First of all the frame of the fan was very small so the metal had to be extremely resistant. And the Huang family obviously used a lot of fire techniques due to their blood.
On the other hand, the clothe of the fan was a material known only to the Huang family named Incandescent Phoenix Paper. Not only was it resistant to fire, it even produced flames at very low temperatures without combustion. In fact, even without martial arts, just moving the fan fast enough could induce a few sparks or even some flames. And this paper could stay intact for decades of use.
Finally, her sword was unusual as its blade was incredibly thin. Clearly, this weapon was not meant to slice but to stab and pierce through.
With both her weapons out, Huang Cixi started to warm up by repeating the moves of 'Ten Thousands Fiery Wheels', the martial art characteristic of her family. It had been invented by the ancestral matriarch. And even though anyone could use it, it would show its true strength while wielded by someone with the blood essence of a True Fiery Fenghuang.
The more she moved around, the more she sensed the two True Fiery Drops in her heart get agitated. With her mind cultivation, she especially focused her intent on those. Gradually, she tried to adjust her rhythm to theirs. From up there, Huang Liyue was quite satisfied by her moves. Although Huang Cixi was not a fighter, her understanding of 'Ten Thousands Fiery Wheels' was quite good. And she had very little battle experience at that. Fighting here for a few days would be a real eye opener for her. Huang Liyue was sure that she would progress fast.
After several hours, Huang Cixi went to work. At first, she only hunted down lesser demonic beasts. Her goal was not necessarily to kill them. She only wanted to sharpen her skills and had no use for neither their cores nor their resources. 1-core demonic beasts were way too weak for her at her level. But just to be on the cautious side, instead of fighting 3-core demonic beasts, she went for 2-core ones.
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Right in front of Huang Cixi was a huge mass twice as large as she was. This demonic beast was entirely covered in plates of what looked like metal. In the shape of a bull, the creature had two short and large claws on its foot. These claws were made of a dark material similar to metal which then went up the beast and covered its body here and there. In some places, its dark brown fur was hiding a bit of it. But all over its back, following its spine, metallic plates were lined up. This wasn't metal per se. In fact those were more like bones but they contained way more iron than usual bones. Other metals were also stored in more quantity.
On its head, the demonic beast had huge horns. Two pairs of those were facing both in front of him and on its sides. And the moment this beast smelled a human cultivator, it turned around and aligned its head with its massive body. Clearly, the beast was ready to charge at any moment.
That was a Steel Hooves Buffalo, a 2-core demonic beast. Although its charge was absolutely terrifying, such a beast was not particularly agile and was in fact not a great threat up-close. Of course, it was necessary to get up-close without being trampled to death. Even a 7th-grade Mortal or an early 8th-grade Mortal would have had to be careful of this beast's charge. Once it was slowed down though, even an early 6th-grade Mortal could probably kill it with no problem.
Huang Cixi was not here to specifically hunt down demonic beasts, but rather to train herself. And she had chosen this Steel Hooves Buffalo as a first test.
When she felt ready, she walked closer to irritate the beast and force it to charge. Up in the sky, Elder Ying was ready to rip the beast apart and Huang Liyue to burn it into cinders if necessary.
As soon as Huang Cixi provoked the demonic beast, it charged right at her. Even though she was prepared, she still was astonished by its insane speed. Still, without using any martial art, she was light on her feet and with elegance, got herself on the right side of the buffalo. Enraged, the beast tried to skewer her with its huge horns while it was trying to stop its own momentum. However, Huang Cixi's agility was impressive. Although she had just finished her movement, her feet almost didn't touch the ground that she was already moving behind the beast.
Once again, the huge demonic beast tried to break her bones with its hinder legs but it couldn't control its own momentum and Huang Cixi didn't even have to dodge.
But when it was finally stopped, the Steel Hooves Buffalo turned its furious gaze toward the young girl. Her sword was back in its sheath and the fan was closed in her right hand. Once more, she was waiting for the charge. The Steel Hooves Buffalo hit the ground with its hooves again and again. The moment it finally decided to charge, it was even faster than before.
This strange dance continued for a while. Each time, Huang Cixi tried to dodge even more minutely. Despite her mind cultivation, Huang Cixi could feel the excitement spreading through her bloodstream. Feeling the wind on her entire body and the heat of the demonic beast was incredible. She was close enough to the mastodon that she could touch it just by extending her arm. Right in front of her, even if she closed her eyes, she was able to feel the raw power of its muscles.
Soon, the beast was completely exhausted. Without hitting it even once, Huang Cixi seemed to have won the fight. However, this Steel Hooves Buffalo would never stop until it saw blood. It was irritated beyond measure faced with this frail human that it couldn't touch.
In a final attempt, the Steel Hooves Buffalo tried to trample on Huang Cixi again even though all his past attacks had failed. Satisfied that this beast would not bring her anything more in her training, Huang Cixi dodged once more and struck its side with her closed fan. The impact was not enough to penetrate its metallic plates but the iron fan still left a deep dent in it. Such a collision sent the huge beast a few meters away, helped by its momentum. Shocked and tired, the demonic beast looked back at the human. Huang Cixi opened her iron fan with a sudden jerk and the Incandescent Phoenix Paper let out a few flames. Combined with the shock of previous fight, it made the Stool Hooves Buffalo decide to leave the human girl alone and it left.
-
For several days, Huang Cixi fought against various demonic beasts such as other Steel Hooves Buffaloes or Winter Heavy Stallions. But she also contended against 3-core demonic beasts among which Sun Crowned Roosters or Two-Tail Eluding Foxes. The Sun Crowned Rooster was an interesting demonic beast for Huang Cixi as it was a bird associated with fire. Another demonic beast was interesting for her, the Silver Winged-Lion, a 4-core demonic beast with the appearance of a muscular lion whose head was that of a vulture. Moreover, it had four gray wings that looked like silver under the sun.
This demonic beast was among the most powerful creatures in this private valley. Usually, only a Mortal Warrior could have contented with it. However, Huang Cixi had grown accustomed to the lesser demonic beasts and wanted to challenge herself. Without Elder Ying and Huang Liyue observing her from up there, she would never have tried such a risky move. But she fully trusted her bodyguards to save her if need be. Furthermore, she wasn't sure that she couldn't put up a fight either. Since she had come here, she had only used the full strength of a single True Fiery Drop and she felt like she was very close to the 9th-grade Mortal stage.
The Silver Winged-Lion was more of a scavenger than a hunter. And it lived on some of the rocky peaks all around the valley. To attract one of them, it was rather easy. Huang Cixi killed a Winter Heavy Stallion and exposed it entrails to the air. She didn't really like such a strategy, after all this was her family's hunting grounds. Killing a beast without then using its resources left a bitter taste in her mouth. This was such a waste and even seemed a bit cruel. However, cruelty was sometimes necessary and Huang Cixi understood that.
Sometimes, her family even picked demonic beasts here to further nurture them and train them in the stables of the family. For example, Winter Heavy Stallions were enormous horses able to travel on many different terrains with little difficulty. And they had a lot of fat stored under their fur, allowing them to travel several days in a row without eating anything and with their strength intact. This was a demonic beast that was quite useful and it was seldom killed in its youth.
Thankfully, the death of this beast was not useless. In less than an hour, it attracted the attention of a Silver Winged-Lion. This time, Huang Cixi was expecting a deadly battle. If she could fight and kill such a demonic beast, she would have no problem against Gui Bei during their duel. And she still had a few days to train and try again and again.
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The first fight didn't go very well. Huang Cixi was able to use her fan as a throwing disc. One of the four wings on the beast's back got lacerated but not cut off. As its feathers got soiled with its own blood, the Silver Winged-Lion got furious and tried to tear apart the limbs of Huang Cixi. In extremis, she was able to dodge, thanks to all her training. The fight lasted many minutes. But all the attacks of Huang Cixi, even when she used her martial arts, were unable to penetrate its hide very deep.