"So this is the 10,000 Beast Forest." Xuan Jin muttered as he stood at the periphery of the forest. At his side there were two middle aged men dressed in pitch black robes. These were the aides assigned by Xuan Moon to protect Xuan Jin during his travels.
They were famous in the Black Jade Province and were known as the Left Blade and Right Blade. Their power was said to only be below the peak figures of the two ruling Sects.
"Young Sect Master are you sure you wish to enter the Forest?" Left Blade asked, cautiously inspecting the Forest. It was considered a forbidden zone for a reason. While the outer area of the Forest wasn't anything too dangerous, the beasts in the inner region could even rival the likes of the Sect Master.
"I already told my father about my wish and he agreed to it. His only rule was that we won't enter the inner region." Xuan Jin replied before stepping forth confidently.
Being cooped up for so long, he desired to explore and have an adventure. While the cities were interesting and still fresh to him, it didn't have much of an aspect of mystery. After all he had read extensively and had learnt a lot about the outside world despite never traversing it.
On the other hand the 10,000 Beast Forest was an enigma. Very few ventured into it, as even those who wished to hunt Demonic Beasts would rather head to the Western Plains or go to the significantly less threatening Evergreen Forest in the East.
After walking for a few minutes, the group of 3 soon felt the atmosphere change. The suns rays barely pierced through the dense foliage of the trees, and numerous insects and small creatures could be heard.
"Hmm, what's that?" Jin asked pointing towards a small grey creature. "That's a Grey Hare, one of the weakest kinds of Demonic Beasts. At most it has the strength of a 1st Layer Qi Gathering cultivator." Left Blade explained as the Grey Hare spotted them.
Immediately it bolted away in fear, but before it could get very far a black figure flashed after it. Grabbing the hare by the neck, Xuan Jin lifted it up and scanned over it. 'How intriguing, despite lacking intelligence Qi flows through it.' The boy thought to himself before sending his Xuan Qi into the hare.
Rather than meridians and a dantian, it seemed as though Qi had integrated into the Grey Hare's very body, with the majority of it's Qi concentrated in its heart.
'Truly very weird, if humans were able to do the same thing wouldn't that cover our greatest weakness as cultivators.' Jin thought before shaking his head. It was likely if his father never mentioned it, then it was largely out of his reach.
After all while he hadn't been given access to all of the library's contents yet, he knew his father would never leave out such a crucial piece of cultivation.
Setting the hare down, it moved two more steps before foaming at the mouth and dying on the spot. Seeing this Xuan Jin raised a brow before face palming.
"Are you all right Young Sect Master?" Left Blade asked as he gazed at the now dead Grey Hare. "Yes, don't worry. I just accidentally used my Xuan Qi to inspect the hare causing....this mess." Xuan Jin sighed.
"Look at it this way. We've run out of rations anyway and the Grey Hare is a relatively good meal. Right Blade will begin setting up camp and I'll start preparing the hare." Left Blade said, as Right Blade nodded before clearing an area.
Immediately Left and Right Blade released their Qi, sweeping through the area and creating a small clearing for them to camp in. A little over two minutes later, the camp was ready with a campfire already roaring.
After eating the meal, night had descended. Jin went into his tent and slept soundly, while Left Blade and Right Blade kept watch. Fortunately the night passed uneventfully, and they packed everything away before continuing their exploration.
An hour later they ran into a Crimson Fox. A relatively stronger Demonic Beast, but still it was no match for Jin. Grabbing it by the neck, he once again decided to inspect the fox. Fortunately for the animal Xuan Jin remembered not to use his Xuan Qi and the fox was let go unharmed.
'It seems as though the Qi density of the Crimson Fox is greater than that of the Grey Hare. Additionally the concentration of Qi at its heart was significantly denser.' Jin mused to himself before heading deeper into the forest.
A few days went by and nothing eventful happened. The group would simply run into a few Demonic Beasts, and Jin would capture them. He'd then do a routine inspection before letting them go. On occasion he would kill the animal, but only as a meal for the day.
"Young Sect Master, we're at the edge of the inner region now. Would you like to head back?" Left Blade suggested. The outer region was relatively tame, with at most an 8th Layer Qi Gathering threat appearing these past few days, but the inner region was a completely different beast.
"...I guess we'll head back. To be honest this outer region was rather disappointing. Although I guess it was interesting to see Demonic Beasts for the first time." Xuan Jin sighed before his eyes lit up. "Lets head to a cool city next, maybe I can find some people to spar with. After all I've been meaning to try out my Moon Blade!"
Hearing this the two aides sighed in relief. They were worried that Young Sect Master would force them into the inner region. If that really happened they didn't know what they'd do. Fortunately it seemed as though, while rather odd their Young Sect Master was sensible.
"Lets get going then. No detours this time and I'll move at full speed so we should be out of the forest in a day or so." Xuan Jin declared before stretching a little.
"ROARRRR!"
"HUUUUUUU!"
"SQUAWK!"
All of a sudden the 10,000 Beast Forest was thrown into chaos. The trees bent from the shockwaves, and Jin felt himself losing his footing. "What in the Heavenly Dao....."