Xie Wuqing woke up from meditation.
His spirit rank might be stuck at just 10, but his overall spirit power had long reached and maybe even surpassed 40. But there was something peculiar he had noticed.
Having read almost every book in the library and consulted with his teacher in a roundabout way, he had a general idea of how fast a soul master progressed after level 30. And yet...
'With every rank after thirty, it seems like my progress is three times slower than normal.'
He felt as if his own Martial Soul was hindering his cultivation for no apparent reason, or at least he had no clue about why it did so. After all, despite having a moderately extensive library, the Nuoding Academy was still an elementary institute for soul masters.
'At least the stagnation in my cultivation has made sure my spirit power is thicker than everyone else, making it more potent.'
Xie Wuqing stood up and walked out of the forest that had been his home for the last five years. Once he had freshened up, he decided to find Tang San.
It did not take long, as the boy either spent all his time with Xiao Wu or with his master, and today he was in the Grandmaster's office.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Xie Wuqing heard someone approaching the door, and when it was opened, he was greeted by Tang San, who was barely four feet and five inches. Standing before him, the blue-haired boy looked relatively small.
"Xie Wuqing." Tang San was confused as to why the boy had come to his master's office. "Did Xiao Wu cause some trouble?"
"No." The black-haired boy shook his head. "I was wondering if I could get your master's signature for entering the spirit beast forest."
"You reached level 10?"
"About time." Xie Wuqing smiled, and Tang San finally let him into the office, where he saw the grey-haired Grandmaster reading a book behind an office table. "Greetings, senior."
Yu Xiaogang, who had heard the whole conversation, looked up from his book. "You finally reached rank 10?"
"I broke through today."
Grandmaster sighed as he closed the book and stood up from his chair. "I advised you before that it was no use practicing scythe or training your physical body." He took out a medallion from the drawer, stamped it on a piece of paper and wrote a few words before passing it to Xie Wuqing. "You should have focused on cultivating your spirit power. Look at Xiao San," He pointed to his disciple. "He broke through rank 20 last year, and I am already a rank 25 Spirit Grandmaster."
"Everyone has their own paths." Xie Wuqing took the scroll. "Thanks for letting me use your Spirit Hall seal; otherwise, I would need a lot of gold coins to gain entrance to the beast-hunting forest."
Yu Xiaogang waved his hand. "It's no problem. Do you need any help in choosing your first Spirit Ring?"
"I have already decided."
"My master has a lot of knowledge when it comes to Spirit Rings and Martial Soul." Tang San frowned at the refusal but was stopped by the Grandmaster.
"Everyone has their own paths." He said the exact words Xie Wuqing had uttered a few seconds ago. "Let us know if you need any help."
"This is more than enough." Xie Wuqing shook the scroll in his hand and walked out of the office.
Once he was gone, Tang San turned to Yu Xiaogang. "He does not know what's good for him."
"I only wanted to help out of kindness, but...*sigh*." The grey-haired man sat back in his chair. "You have to understand, Xiao San, not everyone is like you."
"What do you mean, master?"
"Why do you think he refused my help?"
"Because he is too arrogant?"
"No." Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "It's jealousy."
"Jealousy?"
"Indeed." The grey-haired man stood up from his chair once again and walked towards the window from where he could see the retreating figure of Xie Wuqing. "You both come from the same village, and yet you are already a Spirit Grandmaster, and he has only just reached rank 10." He turned towards his disciple and continued. "Your talent is unmatched in this whole world, and he will never be able to keep up with you. How do you think it would feel?"
As if understanding everything, Tang San nodded his head and then sighed.
"And I used to think Xie Wuqing would somehow be able to keep up with me."
Yu Xiaogang patted his disciple's shoulder. "With your twin Martial Souls, who can keep up with you?"
-
Located in the northeast of Nuoding City, Soul Hunting Forest was a favourite spot for people who wanted to get their first three Spirit Rings, as well as hunters who made money from selling spirit beast corpses.
It took Xie Wuqing three days to reach the Soul Hunting Forest after he had travelled on the fastest carriage from Nuoding City.
"Looking for an agility-type soul master, Spirit Masters and above. We will pay eight gold coins."
The area before the hunting forest was filled with soul masters who were either selling their spoils from the forest, buying the said spoils or recruiting people to enter in groups.
Ignoring them all, Xie Wuqing walked towards the two guards at the entrance and, before they could block his path, took out a piece of paper, which he handed to one of them.
After a look at the paper, the guard nodded, a smile on his face for making their jobs easier rather than acting all arrogant or ignorant.
"Stay safe."
Xie Wuqing gave a polite nod and walked into the forest. He immediately noticed the change in the atmosphere...the forest was filled with a thick aura of blood, either human or from spirit beasts.
Walking a bit deeper into the forest, Xie Wuqing paused, and a moment later, darkness started rising from the ground. It covered his whole body, not only masking his footsteps but also his scent. This way, anyone would find it hard to track him, and he could sneak past spirit beasts, which he did not plan to hunt.
Scythe was not the only thing Xie Wuqing had mastered in the last five years. He had also explored his Martial Soul and learned more about its attributes.
Darkness, for example, was all-consuming. It devoured everything, exhibiting properties that both restrained and corroded everything it touched. With that in mind, Xie Wuqing had created a Soul Skill he called Veil of Darkness, which hid not only the sound he made and his scent but also prevented anyone from finding him, even with their spiritual perception.
As for how effective it was? Well, it was not a few times that he had eavesdropped on the master-disciple duo, where Yu Xiaogang imparted knowledge to Tang San about various topics during the evening. It enabled him to learn a lot about Martial Souls and Spirit Rings, more than he had from the academy instructor and the library.
Tang San had a good spiritual perception, but even had never been able to discover Xie Wuqing spying on them.
'As weak as Yu Xiaogang is, his theoretical knowledge is vast.' He had to give credit where it was due. 'But how did he learn all this? Did he read it somewhere, or is it, as he claims, his own findings?'
It was also during these lectures that Xie Wuqing had learned about various darkness attribute spirit beasts living in the Soul Hunting Forest.
'Black Winged Raven's territory should be further in.'
With a basic map in hand, Xie Wuqing kept walking until nightfall and decided to rest. He did not light any campfire since he had no need for one, and even without light, he was able to see just fine.
Just as he decided to close his eyes for a small nap, his spiritual senses picked up a group of people walking towards him. Immediately, he used the Veil of Darkness and the darkness of night to hide himself better.
"Leader, are you sure the Land Octopus is weak right now?"
"Do you think I would risk my life if the information were not credible?"
"Then shouldn't we hurry?"
"You idiot. That beast will be laying eggs tonight, which means it will be severely injured and weak by tomorrow. If we go now, it might as well just kill us all in a rampage for interfering."
"This looks like a good spot to rest. Should we camp here for the night?"
"Yeah. The cave of the Land octopus is only a few kilometres east of here. We will be able to make it there easily after resting here tonight."
As the group of hunters started making preparations for the campfire, Xie Wuqing, who was hidden a little away from them, was deep in thought.
'Land Octopus?'
It was a common name for a dark-type beast that had various tentacles that it used as a weapon. It was among the strongest darkness attribute beasts, lacking in power, but it made up for it with its exceptional controlling abilities. Due to a unique skill it possessed, it was among the hardest spirit beasts to kill.
Most of these beasts found in the Soul Hunting Forest were around the age of 500 years to a few thousand years.
'Thankfully, they don't live in groups.' Xie Wuqing kept thinking and remembering everything he knew about Land Octopuses before he made up his mind. 'I should check if the beast is of suitable age. I will absorb its spirit ring if it is, and if not, well...' He turned toward the soul masters who were going to attack it tomorrow. 'Maybe I can fish in muddy waters?'
Having come to a decision, Xie Wuqing silently slipped away from the group of soul masters, heading east. With the help of the Veil of Darkness, he easily slipped past most of the spirit beasts that were active at night.
He was confident that with a cultivation of less than 1000 years, no spirit beast would be able to sense his presence.
The distance that could have been travelled in an hour was completed in two, as a few thousand-year-old spirit beasts hunted at night, forcing him to detour around their territories. These beasts would be able to sense his presence, and Xie Wuqing was not sure if he would be able to defeat them if it came down to a fight — at least not yet.
Very soon, a hill with a large cave dug in its base. From there, he could sense the presence of a powerful spirit beast.
Xie Wuqing decided to rest for thirty minutes and recover to his peak state. Once done, he carefully made his way inside the cave.
It was pitch black. If those soul masters had come at this time of night, they would have been at a serious disadvantage. Only soul masters with special Martial Souls or those with darkness attribute Martial Souls would find it comfortable to see into this dark cave.
Inside the cave, the air was damp and heavy with the stench of brine and blood.
Xie Wuqing moved like a shadow, his Veil of Darkness wrapping him in silence. Soon, his eyes fell upon the beast.
The Land Octopus loomed in the gloom, its massive body sprawled across a pool of murky water. Eight thick tentacles flexed lazily, each lined with jagged suction cups. Its eyes glowed faintly violet, and its breathing was uneven — weakened from preparing to lay eggs.
But Wuqing's attention was drawn past it. At the far wall, nestled in the stone, a short tree shimmered faintly with an eerie light. Five dark-purple fruits dangled from its branches.
"Spirit Fruits," he whispered under his breath, recognition flashing in his eyes. He had seen these in one of the books Yu Xiaogang kept in his office — a place Xie Wuqing had often sneaked into. The books in Grandmaster's personal collection were a lot better than what was available in the Nuoding Academy's library.
It was a rare fruit that could help Spirit Grandmasters achieve breakthroughs. Its potency was too weak for Spirit Elders and too strong for Spirit Masters.
'I can sell these for a lot of money.'
Xie Wuqing was broke and had no use for these spirit fruits since his spirit power was already beyond rank 40. It was just sealed inside him due to a lack of spirit rings.
'I can make at least a few hundred thousand gold coins with these.' Now that he considered these spirit fruits his own property, he turned towards the Land Octopus and carefully examined it. Its aura pressed against him like a tide.
He examined the horn in front of its face that was more than nine but less than ten inches long.
'Its cultivation is more than 900 years.' According to Yu Xiaogang, the optimal ages for the first and second spirit rings were approximately 423 and 764 years, respectively. 'But that is because the human body is fragile and cannot bear the strain of these spirit rings.'
If strong enough, it was possible to surpass this 'optimal' spirit ring age. And was Xie Wuqing strong enough to do so?
When he awakened his Martial Soul, the most significant change that happened in his body was to his soul. Did that mean his physical strength was weak? No.
The change to his physical strength was minimal, especially when compared to the changes the awakening had brought to his spiritual power, but it did not mean his Martial Soul gave him no boost to physical strength. Even now, Tang San with two spirit rings could barely match Xie Wuqing in physical prowess.
'Should I risk it?' Xie Wuqing wondered and decisively made up his mind. 'What is there to be afraid of? If I fail, I will only die, nothing more, nothing less.'
If anyone heard his thoughts, they would call him a lunatic, but his thoughts made perfect sense to him. Wasn't death inevitable? And looking at his Martial Soul, it was the reaper of souls, the god of death. So what was there to be afraid of?
He shifted slightly—
The Octopus's head snapped up. Its eyes burned with malice as a guttural screech echoed through the cavern.
'It sensed me?'
Before Wuqing could retreat, tentacles lashed out, thick as tree trunks, slamming into the stone where he had been standing a heartbeat before. The cavern shook violently.
"Tsk. No choice, then."
His Martial Soul flared. Behind him, a towering figure cloaked in tattered black robes manifested, holding a monstrous scythe. Xie Wuqing gripped the weapon as it materialized in his hands, the Deathscythe, its edge gleaming with killing intent.
The Octopus shrieked, tentacles blurring as they whipped toward him. Wuqing's body twisted, his scythe sweeping arcs of cold light through the darkness. One tentacle split open with a wet rip, black ichor spraying across the stone.
But the beast was relentless. The cave trembled as it slammed its limbs like falling pillars, forcing Xie Wuqing to dodge and weave between them. Each strike left craters in the ground.
Then, its eyes flashed.
The cavern plunged into a suffocating blackness. A wave of cold pressure spread outward, blanketing a radius of twenty-five meters. From the ground and walls, tendrils of darkness erupted, writhing like hungry serpents. They lashed out, seeking to coil around Xie Wuqing.
His steps faltered. Even with the Veil of Darkness, the oppressive aura was crushing. If he were caught, there would be no escape.
The Land Octopus roared, the tide of darkness rising—
"...So that's your trick?"
Xie Wuqing lowered his stance, both hands tightening on Deathscythe. The figure of the Soul Reaper loomed taller behind him, its hollow eyes glowing with unearthly green fire.
"Then let me show you true darkness."
The Soul Reaper raised its head and roared.
A pulse of shadow burst outward. Darkness thicker, heavier, and infinitely deeper than the Octopus's swallowed the cavern whole. The Octopus's conjured tendrils withered, shrivelling into nothing as if their existence had been denied.
This was Xie Wuqing's second self-created soul skill—Absolute Darkness.
The Octopus screeched, thrashing violently as its own element betrayed it. Its aura weakened, its movements sluggish, every ounce of its power suppressed beneath Xie Wuqing's abyssal shroud.
Xie Wuqing stepped forward, his presence blending seamlessly into the darkness. To the beast's perception, he had vanished completely.
The next instant—
Shhhk!
Deathscythe's blade tore through a tentacle, severing it cleanly. Another sweep split open the Octopus's flank, ichor splattering against the stone.
The monster roared in agony, its massive body thrashing wildly, but Xie Wuqing's darkness pressed it down like a vice. No matter how it struggled, every strike of its own shadow-born tentacles was devoured before it could form.
"You rely too much on borrowed darkness," Xie Wuqing's voice whispered through the void, everywhere and nowhere. "But before me, there is only one truth—"
He appeared above the Octopus's head, Deathscythe gleaming with black light.
"—all darkness belongs to me."
The blade descended.
The cavern shook with the beast's final screech.
Xie Wuqing watched as life escaped the beast's body and then collapsed to the floor.
Absolute Darkness was his greatest success over the last five years, other than creating his very own scythe arts.
He used his Martial Souls ability to control darkness, flooding the entirety of the battlefield with darkness. This darkness was of a higher level than anything Xie Wuqing had seen and seemed to suppress anything of a similar attribute. Moreover, since darkness had the properties of corrosion as well as absorption, anyone who was in the area of his Absolute Darkness would find themselves being penetrated by the darkness, causing internal wounds.
It also eliminated most of the opponent's sensory abilities. However, it came at a significant cost of spirit power and spiritual strength.
"Just one use has left me drained of all my spirit energy." Xie Wuqing stood beside the beast he had felled, gazing at the yellow-coloured ring, which had a little bit of purple mixed in, floating above Land Octopus's body. "But it was worth it."
Even with his spirit energy crossing rank 40, the drain was significant but very much worth the benefits the self-created soul skill provided.
"I can still make more modifications to make it even stronger..." As Xie Wuqing pondered how to enhance his self-created soul skills, drawing on the experience from a real fight, his Martial Soul flared up.
Even without him calling for it, the Soul Reaper appeared behind Xie Wuqing, and then the boy watched as the black-clad reaper leaned towards the corpse of Land Octopus before it opened its mouth.
Xie Wuqing watched as the spirit beast's body was drained of all its life essence and withered away to nothing.
"What the hell?"
The events shocked him as he had never seen his Martial Soul do something of this sort. But he remained calm and let the Soul Reaper do what it intended to.
Once the Soul Reaper was done absorbing all the life essence, it stood straight, returning to its original position. Then, something even more unexpected happened.
All the life essence the Soul Reaper had drained from the spirit beast was transferred into Xie Wuqing.
The black-haired boy groaned in pleasure as his body was flooded with energy. It was not spirit energy, but something akin to life force, and then the changes began to happen.
Xie Wuqing was tall but relatively thin. After all, how much high-quality meat could he eat with his meagre salary?
Now, thanks to this life energy, his physique began to transform as he grew an inch taller while his frame bulked up. The robes that were once a little loose to him barely fit.
The black-haired boy raised his two arms to his sides and enjoyed the sensation this newfound discovery brought him. Once all the energy was transferred to his body, he slowly opened his eyes and clenched his fists.
"I have gotten stronger." Not his spirit energy, but physical strength. His gaze landed on the yellowish purple spirit ring, and a smile blossomed on his face. "There is no risk in absorbing it."
Wasting no time, he sat cross-legged and, using the spirit energy as a guide, pulled the Spirit Ring towards himself.
The ring tried to overwhelm his physical body, but it failed miserably. Slowly and steadily, it was refined into his first spirit ring and soon came the breakthrough.
His spirit energy surged, and in moments, it reached the next bottleneck of rank 20. However, the spirit energy contained within the ring itself was like a drop in the ocean to his overall spirit energy accumulation.
He had long noticed that he required significantly more energy to advance compared to other soul masters.
With a deep breath, Xie Wuqing opened his eyes, and a satisfied look flashed through them. The spirit skill he received was something he had been hoping for, and it was also the most lethal ability of these Land Octopuses.
"If the one I had killed had developed this ability and had better control over it, the fight would not have been so one-sided." Nodding to himself, Xie Wuqing stood up and looked outside. It was still dark, but he could see the shadows of the sun rising from the horizon. "I should leave."
He knew those soul masters would arrive sooner or later. Thus, he pocketed all the spirit fruits in a bag, turning towards the exit of the cave...a long sigh escaping his mouth.
"Did you kill that beast?"