Three days later..
Within a small clearing in the forest, a caravan stopped beside a small lake. A middle aged man, dressed in a black combat suit jumped down from the back of a horse. While, his face was handsome even despite his age, a long scar stretched from his forehead to his chin, in a monstrous curve.
Behind him, a beautiful young woman dressed in red revealing robes underneath and a slim suit of armor got down beside him. The last was a young man, about thirty some years old, all dressed in valiant armor.
They made their tents beside the river to camp. The sun was down and it was almost night.
"Oi, Lang Xue.. I'll go cut down some firewood, get supplies ready." The thirty something year old looked towards the beautiful woman sternly and walked into the woods with a pickaxe.
As he left, the middle aged man watched his figure and shook his head, then turned to the young girl. "He still hasn't come to propose?" He raised his brows.
The woman shook her head and facepalmed.
"It's as if, he's the only one clueless. Almost everyone in our guild knows Lu Chang has feelings for you.." The middle aged man laughed and patted his hands after tying the horses to a tree and getting them and drink of water..
The woman shook her head. "I can't wait for too long.." she said, which made the man roll his eyes.
Meanwhile, hidden somewhere with the crown of massive ancient trees, several meters away, a cross legged figure slowly let out a breath. Dressed in a straw hat, a blindfold that covered the upper part of his face and in a black cloak that gave him a mysterious and enigmatic look.
Qingxuan left meditation after several hours. It'd been three days since his encounter with the assassins.
All of his time had been spent practicing and perfecting his techniques, comprehending the Dragon-Tiger Manual or the Divine Warlock Symbol.
Having already established half of the soul symbol needed to officially become a 1st Seal Symbol master, his time spent comprehending the Divine Warlock Symbol was simply spent on understanding and analyzing the secrets of the Dao of the Soul.
The Symbol wasn't some divine object or god like cultivation tool.
It was an inheritance that simply contained an accumulation of the understandings and comprehension of the Dao of Soul from multiple experts.
Qingxuan sat deep in contemplation. The soul wasn't just a vague spiritual idea in this world. It was a defined, functional existence that sat at the core of what a cultivator is. The soul was the origin of consciousness, will identity and existence, beyond the physical body, the true self of a cultivator.
The body may be destroyed, the soul may survive, but if a soul is destroyed, the cultivator ceases to exist.
He had began to understand a lot just from three days of constant meditation and comprehension.
Now, the Dao of Soul was necessary for him, because mental energy was metaphysical in its essence. In order to weaponise his mental energy as part of his combat prowess, he needed to use it in a way different from Yuan Power, otherwise he might as well just forsake Mental Energy and use Yuan Power.
Yuan power tethered on the physical, boosting strength, speed, attributes and pure combat. But Mental Energy bordered on the metaphysical. With it, he wouldn't just be able to attack an enemy's body, but the soul.
But, within these three days, his greatest accomplishment had come from the Dragon-Tiger manual. After the constant comprehension and understanding, he had finally broken down bits and pieces of the concepts and intent hidden within the manual and was already focused on incorporating them into his combat to boost his battle power.
Qingxuan sighed. The three days of living in this forest had been peaceful. He took out a bundle of dried meat and dumplings and began to eat. He would've just focused on his cultivation had he not discovered the caravan.
First he dismissed them as simple hunters, but after watching them for a while, he discovered they were more than that. They were mercenaries from a guild, and apparently, they were following a map that depicted a hidden treasure filled ruins within this mountain range.
Normally, Qingxuan would've dismissed the idea of going on some god forsaken treasure hunt, but, in one of their night discussions, the leader, the scarred middle aged man known as Long Feng, had mentioned the existence of a Heaven and Earth sacred treasure known as the Sacred Qi Dwelling.
This was a pool of pure heaven and Earth Qi that could nourish one's spirit, heal wounds, and even advance cultivation. Qingxuan had read about it, and it was exactly what he needed to complete the Soul Symbol.
He had tailed them ever since, hiding within the tallest trees. Being experienced mercenaries, their senses were far more sharpened than any ordinary cultivators, so he made to keep his distance, about several hundreds of meters away, and simply kept tabs on them with his eye of Heavenly perception.
He finished his meal, and continued to cultivate, until night slowly fell. Hours passed. But, close to midnight, Qingxuan stirred awake from half sleep. He sat up calmly, before rubbing his forehead. He didn't even need to turn around, his 360 degree peripheral vision was almost all seeing.
"A beast horde? Their trajectory seems like they'll get here sooner rather than later.... Interesting. Let's see how they'll handle this.." He watched the mercenary group from down below.
Meanwhile, the mercenary group were calmly seated around a bonfire, drinking wine and telling stories.
"…This Great Yan Empire that seems endless, is actually just a small dot in the Eastern Xuan Region. There are much stronger empires with warriors who can tear this place down if they so wished. But the real overlords of the Region are those Great Super Sects…" The speaker was none other than the scarred middle aged man Long Feng.
"Come on, Lang Xue, don't tell me you really believe this load of crap. The ancient Super Sects are a myth. Nothing more.." The thirty something year old man known as Lu Chang finished the wine in his cup and whispered to the beauty seated beside him, who simply rolled her eyes.
The scarred man shook his head. "You're a frog in the well, Lu Chang. This world is vaster than your brain could ever picture. There are countless experts who could wipe this entire empire of the face of the earth with nothing but a snap of their fingers…" He spat coldly and finished his wine as well. He was about to continue when his body shook from a loud roar.
ROARRRRRR!
It wasn't just him, Lu Chang and Lan Xue quickly arose to their feet and grabbed weapons from their tents, as fast as they could. Lu Chang scattered the fire and doused it with the remaining contents of his cup.
"It's a beast horde, and judging from the intensity of the demonic Qi, I'll say about a dozen of them are headed this way.." His own combat weapon was an oversized hammer, with an axe edge at one of its ends.
Lu Chang pulled out a long spear, while Lang Xue held a crystal green bow.
"Shift into position!!"
Long Chen, the scarred man roared towards his companions as they assumed a triangle formation, standing back to back.
In that moment, a loud roar shook the forest again. Right then, a massive brown bear tore down multiple trees in front of it. The moment it spotted the trio, it roared, bared fangs and rushed towards them with incredible ferocity.
"Humph!!" Long Feng grabbed his battle axe, as strength exploded from his form, revealing his cultivation at the peak of Body Tempering. Tendrils of blue Yuan power surged around his figure and then he moved.
Lu Chang's cultivation was close. He tethered at the peak of the 8th layer. His spear was enveloped in a yellow aura as he closed down the massive demonic bear.
"Heavy Mountain Splitter!!" Long Feng roared and leapt into the sky. The battle axe twirled within his palms and then he grabbed the handle with incredible strength and swung down with incredible power, that would shatter a mountain.
The bear roared and slapped its huge paw towards the incoming battle axe.
BANG!
A resounding bang shook the land beneath their feet. The bear was sent skidding backwards, a huge gash torn into its shoulder, as blood poured out incessantly. Grade 2 beast was obviously no match for a peak body tempering Realm cultivator.
Lu Chang flipped over Long Feng's form and the spear in his hand stabbed out multiple times, faster than the naked eye could even track.
"Divine Serpent Tail!"
The bears vital spots were pierced before it could realise what was going on, before Long Feng axe split its body into two.
The two men had not taken time to breathe when a second wave of attacks soared. Lan Xue's touched the bowstring on her crystal emerald bow.
Right then, a faint green arrow materialised on the string, constructed from her Yuan Power.
SOU!
The arrow ripped into the feather of a golden beaked eagle that had grabbed onto Lu Chang with its huge talons. The thirty something year old flipped into a stabbing motion and let his long spear rip into the skull of a huge flaming wolf that was heading towards biting towards Long Feng.
Meanwhile, Qingxuan watched the battle from above, admiring their battle tactics. Long Feng was clearly the most experienced fighter amongst them, hence he went head on, with most of the beasts. Lu Chang was fast, hence he was support, while Lang Xue's arrows made her perfect to provide cover.
Sometimes Lu Chang and Long Feng switched roles executing any demonic beast that crossed their path.
In less than thirty minutes, the floor was littered with demonic beast corpses, while their blood joined into a river that flowed through the clearing.
The three fighters began to feel the strain on their bodies after the continuous battle. Especially Lan Xue. Being the weakest out of the three meant she was bound to run out of stamina first. She dropped to a knee gasping, as the other fought valiantly.
Her forehead was covered with sweat, but her eyes gleaned with determination and resolve as she tightly clenched her bow. But before she could even move, she felt a suffocating aura blanket her entire body, causing her to freeze.
A large green python began to wrap her legs. She fell to the ground and let go off her bow, but began to crawl towards it as it was the only way out of this.
The python hissed, as its forked tongue snaked out before its jaw widened. It's huge eyeballs staring at Lang Xue's figure with malice.
"Lan Xue!!" Lu Chang turned around in shock. His eyes widened, his heart nearly exploded within his chest. For a moment, he forgot about the massive ape he was fighting and turned all his attention to Lan Xue. A big mistake.
The ape's huge fist crashed into his chest, shattering multiple bones and sent him crashing into a tree.
"Shit!!!"
Long Feng cursed angrily and cracked the shell of a demonic turtle with his axe. He wanted to pursue his companions, but was instantly swarmed with demonic beasts. His muscles burned due to the continuous battle and for the first time in a long time, fear surged into the heart of the once fearless man, bringing with it a surge of locked up memories.
But…
Right then and there, the air itself bent as projectiles tore through.
SOU!
SOU!
Two arrows flitted past Long Feng's head with nigh sonic speed. The arrow flicked past Lan Xue's bangs freezing her on the spot, and then the python that was almost swallowing her figure was speared right into the eye, the momentum from the arrow shattering its skull.
The demonic ape that sent Lu Chang flying hurled itself into the sky and descended with both fists, accompanied by incredible power, wanting to crush him completely. But before it could land, the second arrow ripped into its neck before piercing into a tree nearby.
Blood spurted out and the ape was dead before it hit the ground.
Lan Xue's eyes widened, when a figure silently landed into a crouched position in front of her, armed with a simple crystal blue bow. Long black cloak, his eyes blindfolded, and a straw hat that hid his face completely, adding to his enigmatic and mysterious look.
A blade was sheathed on his lower back.
The newcomer's gaze stared right at a stunned Long Feng and then he crouched low and grabbed the handle of the blade on his back in a strange martial pose.
"Crouching Tiger's Divine Will…"
His voice was calm, yet deep. Faint Purple black tendrils of Yuan power seemed to streak across his figure like divine lightning, and the moment he moved , the ground beneath his feet shattered and his body moved in an explosive burst, leaving behind a lingering burst of dark miasma.
ROARRRRR!
He unsheathed his blade, spun and slashed out faster than the eye could track. A resounding tiger's roar exploded forth from within his figure, shaking the land itself.
SLASH!!!!
He spun into a clean crouch and unsheathed the blade on his back as fast as he had unsheathed it.
Long Feng stared gobsmacked at what had just happened. What kind of technique was that?!! And that movement?!! He heard a sickening squelch behind him and turned around only to see a massive direwolf be bisected into two right in front of his eyes as blood and gore exploded in a mess.
That wasn't just any beast. That was a Grade 3 direwolf that was equivalent to a Peak Body Tempering Realm cultivator.
Killed off in one move. Not even he would've been able to pull that off.
He turned his head towards the mysterious figure and his eyes squinted for a moment, before his heart shook with trepidation. He could not sense this person's cultivation, and that only meant one thing. The mysterious figure was far stronger than him.