The stern woman had a keen eye. She was definitely incredibly experienced in medicine. Just as she had said, Kai spent another three days being treated. Every day, she came to check on Kai at the same time and quickly left to see others for checkups.
Although she wasn't verbose, Kai still managed to get bits of pertinent information out of her. In addition to this, on the last day, another patient was placed with Kai. By talking to him, Kai filled in any gaps in his understanding of the subject matter. Naturally, he was interested in the Shadowlands.
In the end, everything turned out to be about what he thought it would be. Except that Kai had been badly mistaken about the scale.....
It turned out that these grounds were not in the Shadow City itself. A little to the south of the walls was a huge protected area. The furnishings inside were quite varied. It included several small mountain peaks surrounded by dense forests, swamps, marshes, meadows, and other things....
In general, the Shadow Sect kept this region wild without interfering with the natural environment. All they did was simply prevent the creatures from leaving the boundaries of the Shadow Sect's Wildlands. This led to many different living species evolving in a very competitive environment...
The closer you got to the centre of the Shadowlands, the stronger the creatures were... It was said that only the Elders could enter the core. So, even a master at the peak of the Attraction Sphere would not be safe there.
The Shadow Sect created this area for various purposes. The most basic one was training. But other than that, there were often Animal Tamers who were looking for interesting beasts for their craft. Also, many Artefact Makers, Blacksmiths, and Alchemists came there. After all, it was possible to extract expensive ingredients or components from strong beasts.
For example, Alchemists could get rare poison for a pill, and Blacksmiths could get tendons for bowstrings. The bones and blood of such beasts were also very valuable to many craftsmen. In addition to this, the wilderness also grew a wide variety of plants.
All of these things made the Shadowlands a very popular place. Even so, in a few days inside, you might not meet anyone. As it was, they were too vast.....
When Kai finally learnt all these nuances, he came to be delighted! This was definitely the place he needed to go! Strong beasts and seclusion from other masters... Perfect conditions to develop his bloodline. And also, the real battles he needed to cultivate the third level of the Invisible King Torture Technique.
As soon as Kai was discharged, he immediately travelled to his destination. Thankfully his ward mate had explained where he needed to go.
Kai didn't even stop by his home or to see Shuo. In fact, with Kai's temperament, he didn't even think about it....
Although the Shadow Corner was not conventionally far from Shadow City. But even getting outside the walls was troublesome. He had come here by carriage and it took a decent amount of time....
Because of that, Kai decided to pay special people to transport him. Normally, you were given a horse and a travelling companion. It was much faster than travelling in a cart or carriage.
But Kai didn't have any riding skills. So, he had to ride on the same horse as a huge man. That feeling seemed a bit awkward....
'Damn... We'll have to train for this...' - Kai thought, sitting almost right up close to the attendant.
Thankfully, it didn't have to be endured for too long. A few days of travelling and Kai finally got rid of that idiotic feeling. He felt like a child again, unable to perform basic functions on his own.
- What a bastard of a trip this has been...' Kai said a little irritated, heading towards the high wall.
He couldn't see her clearly yet, as the forest was dense ahead. Just looking in the distance, it was visible above the crowns of the trees. This showed that the wall was about 50 metres high. Not too high, but it would definitely restrict the movement of ordinary beasts.
The ward mate was telling Kai about it. Such a fence was placed all around the perimeter of the Shadowlands. In fact, it wasn't really that necessary... Perhaps once upon a time, the beasts might have tried to leave the area. But now, many of them had their own zones of influence and habitat that they would never leave.
Right now, this fence was more for other people, warning them not to venture further out. Also, hunting in the Shadowlands was worth certain Reputation Points. When there were only a few entrances, it was much easier to control each disciple.
Remembering all of this, Kai approached the large mahogany gate. On either side of them were a small number of rather beautiful houses. In style, they matched well with the entrance to the Shadowlands.
'Probably over many decades, a small village has formed here... Still, the guards need somewhere to live...' - Kai thought as he approached the entrance.
It was logical, since the journey to the City of Shadow was not a few hours. It was much more convenient to settle down closer.
As time went on, the ordinary people began to pull in as well. The workers of the Shadow Sect needed the benefits of life, and the common people needed protection. Thus, everything grew into small villages where ordinary villagers and Shadow Sect members coexisted peacefully.
- Hello, I'd like to go to the Shadow Sect! - With a smile, Kai shouted out as he approached the gate.
At that moment, a group of 5 people were sitting there. They were laughing and playing cards. Each of them was wearing the uniform of the Shadow Sect.
It seemed that these men were living a rather carefree life. Their duty wasn't very difficult. One simply had to let students in and out, recording the days they spent inside.
One of the men turned his head lazily, as if he was being pulled away from something important. But when he saw the character on Kai's chest, he instantly jumped up!
- Hello Immortal Drunkard! - Respectfully he shouted out.
Naturally, this was the first time he had seen Kai. But his nickname was written on the chest of his uniform. Even more so, he wouldn't have dared to address a Personal Disciple differently. Such customs were strictly observed in the Shadow Sect.
Hearing this, the other men also quickly jerked up. Some of them, sweat instantly broke out on their foreheads. To them, a Personal Disciple was equal to an Elder! And in front of such a person, they were playing cards instead of attending to their duties! To them, this situation looked pretty bad.....
Looking at all of this, Kai simply smiled. It wasn't hard to understand their train of thought. But luckily for them, Kai didn't care about the performance of these guards' duties.
- Forget it guys, you can keep playing. Hehehe. - With a laugh, Kai calmed them down.
As soon as Kai's words sounded, everyone breathed out a sigh of relief, but they didn't return to the game. Still, in their minds, that would be disrespectful.....
- Can I come in? Oh... And what's the price? - Kai asked calmly.
- One Reputation Point per day! Of course you can go in! - Quickly shouted out the main one of them.
- Thank you, then make a note of the date of my entrance. - With a smile, Kai said and calmly walked beside the guards, entering the Shadowlands.
Naturally, since they were outside the Shadow Sect, there was no self-regulating array here. Reputation Points would only be deducted after the guards reported directly to the Shadow Sect. Therefore, they would record the date of the disciple's entrance...
Normally, they would make sure that the person entering has enough Reputation Points. But considering the status of a Personal Disciple... They simply didn't dare to question Kai's standing.
Thus, after passing through the gate Kai immediately found himself in a dense forest. He could even say that it was an entire jungle! Although even in front of the entrance gate, the trees grew quite dense, but still, it couldn't compare to the surroundings inside.
- So... Where should I head to? Hehe. - With a wicked smile, Kai said.
Okay, he was just having fun. Kai was well aware that he would be moving in a straight line, heading towards the centre.
Regular Core Disciples also came to the Shadowlands. It followed from that that the outskirts were safe even for them... In that case, it was logical to assume that Kai had nothing to do here. Although Kai wouldn't dare to enter the core. But he definitely needs to head inland!
- Let's go! - Kai shouted and ran, moving deftly through the thicket.
He was soon convinced that his judgement was correct. With his perception, he could sense that the beasts would instantly hide when they smelled him. Those who dwelt in these places were simply no competition for him. Not only Kai realised this, but also the beasts themselves.....
It wasn't until half a day later, after running a huge distance that Kai felt someone looking at him from the darkness....
'What huge trees... It's still lunchtime, but you can barely see the sun... There's someone out there!' - Looking in the direction of the lurking beast, Kai thought.
Such darkness was provided by the height of the vegetation and how densely they were arranged. The foliage of the trees literally blocked out most of the sunlight!
- Come out! You'll be the first victim! - Kai shouted with a smile.
As with his hunting in the Endless Wasteland, he was aware that the beast did not recognise human speech... But it definitely understood that Kai had spotted it and was now provoking it to attack.
- Raaaar! - There was a loud roar!
A huge carcass burst out of the thicket! It was a three metre long anthropomorphic creature with horns. And its skin was all greenish.
- Perfect camouflage for such a big guy! - Kai shouted out and instantly moved out of the beast's line of attack!
It seemed that the horned one wasn't agile enough, as it ran into the tree behind Kai. Naturally, Kai himself was already elsewhere.
'It seems like he just entered the Cloud Sphere... We need to be more careful.' - Kai thought quickly and instantly drew out his black daggers.
Kai didn't wait for this beast to recover from hitting the tree and instantly rushed out from the back! At the same moment, the Astral Sacrifice Fire erupted! Kai wasn't going to hold back as he didn't realise the limits of his opponent's strength yet.
But as it turned out after a second, Kai had overestimated his first sacrifice....
- Bam! - There was a small explosion and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.
- Boom... - With a thud, the carcass of the beast fell to the ground.
Standing on top of it, Kai looked at the huge hole in the creature's back. His own blow was truly terrifying.
- What was next? - Covered in blood, Kai stood in thought.
'Kessia said I'll feel what to do next... But for now...' - As soon as Kai thought of that, his thought was interrupted halfway through!
- What is this... - In slight confusion, he tried to listen to his body....
- Doo-dum! - There was the sound of a heartbeat! But it was so distinct that it echoed with a throbbing in Kai's ears. It seemed to him that even the contrast and brightness of the colours around him intensified.
At that moment, it seemed to him that his blood began to flow faster... And his flesh itself felt as if it had experienced thirst. Kai felt his body create a slight force of attraction. It was a very strange feeling...
In the next moment, all of the beast's blood instantly began to be sucked outwards and flew towards Kai! And the blood that was already on him was lightning fast absorbed through his skin!
- What the... - Kai was shocked.
But at that moment, for some reason, he felt a barely perceptible ecstasy. It was strange, because the sensation was definitely coming from his body. It was as if his entire flesh was in awe and rapture!
- I'm absorbing blood... It's just like Kessia said! - Kai suddenly shouted out!