"Alvi, why did you absorb its body also? Don't you know how difficult it is to cultivate both body and spirit at the same time using Heaven Sealing Art?" the old man, John, asked anxiously when he saw Alvin opening his eyes.
Alvin gave a light smile as he stood up and stretched his arms. "Heaven Sealing Art will only be complete if both the ways of body and spirit are cultivated together. Cultivating only one way will be fast but won't be as strong as the original version."
John shook his head helplessly. "Brat, you are not the first one to try this. Everybody who chose this path ended up stuck at the Mortal Realm, unable to break through to the Ascension Realm ever in their life..."
Alvin ignored the old man who was lecturing nonstop and, after placing the two daggers in the scabbards on his waist, he retrieved the arrow he had shot at the panther before placing it in his quiver which was lying on the ground.
"Let's go back to the tribe. This place will be crowded with poisonous mosquitoes by evening," Alvin said as he slung his quiver and bow over his shoulder.
"Are you even listening to what I am saying..." John sighed in defeat before following Alvin who was walking ahead.
After walking about four hours, they reached in front of a large wall made of ten-meter-tall wooden logs. There were also fire torches on top of the walls, along with a few burly men standing watch some distance from each other.
In this mountain called Demon Sealing Mountain, there are four tribes: the Heavenly Hand Tribe, Black Scorpion Tribe, Red Dragon Tribe, and Sacred Eagle Tribe.
This wooden wall was the protective boundary of the Heavenly Hand Tribe. Alvin and John walked through the door after nodding at the middle-aged man who was sitting near the door with a bottle of wine in his hand.
Once inside, Alvin could see many wooden houses built close to one another. purple-eyed people in beast skin clothing could be seen chatting and laughing as they immersed themselves in their own world.
Many small kids were also playing here and there, making a rather harmonious atmosphere.
"Remember to mark my mission as complete when you visit the guild. I will be going now," John waved goodbye to Alvin before he walked in another direction towards his house.
Alvin also continued walking forward after giving John a nod. As he was walking forward, Alvin saw a young mother playing with her son at the side. A small smile appeared on Alvin's face when he saw this.
His mother's face appeared in his mind like a beautiful painting, making the smile on his face seem rather lonely.
Ten years ago, a massive beast tide broke out in the territory of the Heavenly Hand Tribe. Many tribesmen died during the calamity. On top of that, a group of bandits attacked the tribe when all the strong cultivators were busy dealing with the beasts.
They took all the money of the helpless villagers, even killing some of them who refused to give them the money.
Alvin and his mother were living alone in the tribe. Even their daily needs were covered thanks to their kind neighbors. So naturally, they did not have anything to give to the bandits.
Unlike the other burly women of the tribe, Alvin's mother was really beautiful like a flower. This turned into a curse for her. The bandit leader took his mother with him by force. Although the villagers tried to stop them, they were not a match for this Ascension Realm cultivator.
When the strong cultivators of the tribe returned, they went on a full-scale search to find his mother. But what they found were only the dead remains of some bandits in an abandoned tent.
Though they did not find Alvin's mother anywhere in the tent, the Great Elder did a divination and concluded that she was still alive. So the search continued for more than a month, which ended with no result...
"Alvi, Great Elder asked for you. She is waiting for you at her house," just as Alvin was walking forward absentmindedly, a young man around Alvin's age ran towards him and said while panting.
"Oh..." Alvin gave a simple nod in approval and began walking in the direction the man had come from.
After passing several wooden houses, he reached in front of a tall building which looked far grander compared to the wooden houses in the village. This was the village shrine where the tribals worshipped the mountain gods.
"You are weak..."
"Come to us. You will be the strongest person in this universe..."
"Haha... pathetic, you cannot even protect your own mother. What kind of a son are you..."
"I wonder what her fate is now, probably a toy in the hands of some wealthy pig... tsk tsk..."
"Come back to us. We will help you save your mother, even if it is from some primordial god..."
"Weakling..."
As Alvin was walking forward, he heard several voices murmuring from inside the shrine, some filled with compassion, some with mockery, some with irresistible temptation, like the murmurs of a ghost.
Alvin ignored all these sounds with a cold face as he continued walking forward. Ever since he was little, he could hear some murmurs whenever he passed by here, so he did not care much about it.
Finally, he reached in front of a wooden house and knocked on the door. "Master, it is me, Alvin."
"Door is not locked, just push it open," a gentle feminine voice rang from inside the house.
When Alvin pushed open the door, he saw his master, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Hand Tribe, sitting around a table with one middle-aged man and a small girl around the age of thirteen.
Alvin's master, Lilly, had a head full of white hair and several wrinkles on her face, but she still gave off a mature charm even in her old age. On the other hand the middle-aged man appeared to be quite bulky. Judging from his looks, he was a body cultivator.
As for the girl, Alvin was familiar with her as she had come to Demon Sealing Mountain from outside to learn about Lilly's spirit healing skills four years ago. In a sense, they could be considered fellow students under Lilly.
"Greetings, Master," Alvin bowed to Lilly respectfully with one hand on his chest.
Lilly nodded with a smile. "This is Sir William Light. He is Emma's guardian. She has already learned all the necessary skills in the past four years, so it is time for her to return home."
Alvin nodded in understanding and bowed to the middle-aged man as well, who returned a nod as approval.
"Big brother Alvi, don't worry, I am not going no matter who comes," suddenly the little girl pouted angrily and looked at Alvin seriously as though she was comforting him.
The middle-aged man gave Alvin a cold look when he saw this.
Alvin's mouth twitched. "Junior sister, since your purpose here is over, you should listen to the elders' words and go back. After you are capable of standing on your feet, you can come back to visit Master if you miss her then."