Chapter 41: Zhao Wei (1)

Chapter 41: Zhao Wei (1)

In the days following her breakthrough and healing process, we ventured deeper into the Forbidden Ancestral Hunting Ground. This was merely reconnaissance at that early stage, which I approved of heavily.

It is like she is aware of the line that divides the outer region from the middle region of the dangerous forest, and she zig-zags across that line, exploring the region, and possibly looking for routes.

She doesnt share her plans with me, but I know them nevertheless. There is not a thing a sapient monkey could hide from me, in terms of strategy, especially not someone who gives me such unrestricted access to their consciousness and Dao Heart.

She is hunting. She is eager to test herself and her newfound power.

Of course, she had this depth of cultivation before, but this time it was new to her. Even before she broke into Foundation Establishment, she could produce a strong sword Qi. Naturally, now she wants to know what she can accomplish.

As someone who likely could not produce any sword Qi before when they were in this realm or at the very least not one strong enough to be useful this must seem new and exciting. Well. Exciting.

Unfortunately, our flight experiments failed to produce any results. She could get me to hover over the ground, but flying on my back was out of the question. I wonder if it is because I lack the [Flight] talent. If I were not saving my resources for [Nooparallelism], I wouldve bought the talent, but it is also possible that once she reaches the Mid stage, it wont be necessary.

Lan Xiaohui is not the same person she was before, though I am not sure that this has yet internalized within her properly. She likely has only thought about it in the short term: to survive in this place, she must change. She must adapt and become a predator.

Though she has spoken of the long term consequences of such a thing her worry that she will not be able to regard another as a close friend or ally because of the solitary path she now walks I am not yet certain if she has truly accepted it.

This term demonic cultivator refers to one who has abandoned all principles of morality in order to advance; not only burning their own life force but also relying on evil techniques and scriptures to do so. Righteous cultivators would never accept them, and demonic cultivators would, at best, only pretend to be allies until the moment was right to betray them.

Unable to rely on her own strength, driven into a corner and close to death, what choice does she have left?

Still, she has a very long path ahead of her, but her meticulous daily practice, and constant risk, improves her fighting capability by noticeable margins.

In her search for her sixth challenger, she ventures deeper into the Forbidden Ancestral Hunting Ground, under the cover of darkness, and follows a stream deeper into the woods.

I notice that medicinal herbs of high grade rarely grow here. Though we manage to restock on some items that could prove useful to her, it is not as abundant as in the outer regions. This is likely because of the density of creatures here.

Qi Refining realm beasts do not fight her. They likely understand that they do not stand a chance and have likely found ways to survive this deep in the forest despite the presence of much more powerful creatures.

At one point, however, Lan Xiaohui freezes and stares into the distance. This is not her usual behavior. Instead of charging in and challenging whatever it is that is outside of my perception radius, she stands her ground.

If it were a Mid or Late stage demonic beast of the third rank, I assume she would at least get into a proper fighting stance, but that is not the case this time. I have never really seen Lan Xiaohuis Dao Heart shaken like this, or seen her hesitate to this degree.

It is so surprising, even I become curious enough to pause my routine of training my perception I dont have much else to do lately, as she wont allow me to process materials, and she doesnt need help in combat.

After a moment, she takes a deep breath and withdraws the fur of one of the two wolves we killed, and drapes it over her back. She tries her best to adjust her ruined dress, to cover the places where she is indecent, but in the end just ends up hugging the pelt over her body.

On these trips, I float behind her back, but now she goes out of her way to snatch me out of the air, and to slip me through the sash around her waist.

Then she walks forward and I understand what it is that has shaken her so much.

It is another cultivator. A living one.