Chapter 27: Hunting Beasts

Chapter 27: Hunting Beasts

The carriage took off immediately. There were two guards on the carriage along with the driver. While we hadnt been attacked on the way out here, it was dangerous traveling between cities. Even if the main roads were well maintained and paved. With how well the roads were made, it was obvious cultivators had been involved in fusing stone togeather, and creating a slightly elevated roadway between cities.

I made sure my pack was tightly secure to my back along with my sword sheath. I pulled the sword free and held it in my hand as I set off down the dirt path away from the main road. If I was attacked, there would be no time to get my sword free in time. Better to have it in hand.

Quickly picking up speed, I bounded across the ground in large leaps along the dirt path. If I walked it would be too slow and I would have to watch my footing too much. Getting used to high-speed movement was important. Martial Elder Lei had shown me how to do it properly. It was all in the ankle to properly angle oneself and staying close to the ground. Adjusting my position in the air wasnt possible until the fourth stage when I could use techniques.

I occasionally swung my sword to cut through a branch or vine in the way. Each move was crisp and assured. While I could use only one hand to wield the oversized sword, it unbalanced me due to my small stature. If it wasnt for my cultivation strengthening my body, I would have struggled with it, even with two hands.

But the more motes I aligned in the second stage of cultivation the stronger I became. Even my senses felt improved as everything had a crispness to it that it didnt before. I could only imagine how higher rank cultivators viewed the world.

When I wasnt scanning my path, I was scanning the forest for any signs of beasts. I needed to be ready the moment any beast attacked me, otherwise I would be killed.

My current destination was a wilderness outpost that the Cloudy Moon Sect occasionally used for hunting expeditions. Sects had several such outposts scattered in the wilderness near their sect for such purposes. They consisted of a single stone room built deep into the ground.

One such outpost was my first destination to make sure it was clear, and I could use it as a fallback point if needed. Ensuring a path of retreat was important in my mind and something the Sect Leader had recommended.

There was something glowing that was approaching. I could see it through the trees. A beast core! As my cultivation improved, my ability to concentrate on Qi and see it had improved. I had been ignoring the motes for the most part, ever since I entered the second rank. The fact I could see the approach of a beast core was a huge boon and eased my mind for the trials I was about to endure.

The wolverine like beast was quite large. It was rank 2 if I had to guess since it was the size of a very small compact adult car. I had both my feet planted on the ground as it charged at me through the various shrubs covering the forest floor. I stepped to the side and slashed out, my form perfect, my timing impeccable.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

The beast was cut open horizontally. Blood and viscera spilled out as it crashed into the ground. I did a follow up swing to get the blood off my sword while I checked around me. There were no other beasts. It was unlikely, since they rarely got together except for a beast tide. But better just to be sure. I put my sword away into my spatial ring to free up both of my hands.

I quickly pulled out my Cylinder Extractor and used it, aiming around the beast core. The flesh parted easily. I grabbed chunk of fur and pulled, a large amount of beast flesh and bone in a cylindrical shape was pulled free. The core was pulled along as well. I quickly plucked it free, with a pair of clamps. I put the core and then the clamps into my low-rank spatial ring.

The cleaning of the spirit stone could happen later. I pulled my sword out of my spatial ring and set off once more. Quickly rushing forward, there would be another beast or two moving in on the beast corpse I left behind.

The more I learned about beasts the more their very nature threw me off. They had similar organs to other mammals. The only difference being a core. There were no weird cultivation organs. Then at the later stages, intelligence and then shapeshifting.

It was honestly quite confusing, how all this worked at a fundamental level, but there had been nothing on what Qi actually was beyond the energy of the heavens and the earth. If anyone knew it would be the high ranking sects, but they werent sharing. There was a black hole of information around the most critical aspect of cultivation. But I had neither the backing nor the personal power to contest this or get answers.

Following the dirt path, I paused when I heard another beast approaching, but didnt see a core. It was smaller than the last one, so only a rank 1 beast. It rushed at me and leapt. I stepped to the side and slashed out. The beast was mostly bisected. It would have been if I had stepped in closer, but I didnt want to get blood on me. That risked drawing other beasts.

Using my Cylinder Extractor and the pair of tongs, I retrieved a rank 1 beast core. Useful to power my equipment, but not much else. Even such a priceless item was nothing but a bronze coin to me, with how much money and resources I needed.

No wonder mortals said cultivators were rich. They could just rush out and kill a couple of beasts and make an incredible amount of money for a mortal. But for a cultivator, this was just spending money at best. The scale difference that the Sect Leader had spoken about was more evident than ever with how my thinking had shifted.

I had been playing in the kiddie pool this entire time with my all my businesses. A single beast core would be an immense source of wealth for any cultivator. I would have more wealth from killing a level 3 beast than all my businesses earned in a single year.

It was humbling in a sense. I thought I was the next Steve Jobs, instead I was the kid with a lemonade stand that made a lot of money with it. My genius meant nothing compared to old monsters that had lived for millennia. Even if they only had one original thought per century, the sheer amount of time had entrenched their positions more than any amount of wealth ever could.

Not even considering the command-and-control economy that the high ranking sects used, it was the sheer age of elder cultivators that was just completely overbearing. As I made my way through the forest, I felt despondent about the scope of the problem in front of me.

I did not want to be out here in the wilderness fighting. But it was both the only and best source for cultivation resources any cultivator could get. I had spoken with the Sect Leader about why more cultivators at the Core Formation stage and at the first bottleneck didnt go out and hunt.

They did, and they died. Others tried other things in order to breakthrough. Many just gave up as the sheer amount resources and headache was too much. Even with all that effort, countless cultivators failed in their attempts to break through the bottleneck, which had a failure rate of around 99.9%. That meant for every thousand cultivators that reached Core Formation, only one would break through to the fifth stage.

The more martial sects did what I was doing. Send their members out to fights beasts. Countless died, more were crippled. There was a reason why my former master Yi Rong wasnt out fighting. Cultivators feared injury. Since any serious damage to a persons body before the fifth rank would cripple a persons cultivation short. Imagine spending centuries working on something and it is ruined in seconds. This fact combined with the patience necessary to cultivate made cultivators outside martial sects risk averse.

For me there was no other choice. Being confident in swinging my blade the right way to cut through low-ranking beasts was easy enough. But one mistake, and I was finished. One rank 4 beast with human level intelligence, and I would be in a very tough position. The two beasts so far had just mindlessly raced at me. A rank 3 beast might circle a bit and be weary of my sword like a dog, but they would still attack. A rank 4 beast would have patience and be willing to wait and stalk me.

Scanning around me, there were no other beasts nearby. It would take a couple of days to reach the outpost. It was set deep in the wilderness to avoid any beast tide from impacting a nearby city. The Sect Leader had kindly told me that if I didnt return within five years, he would stop worrying about me and I should just give up if I was still alive.

The basic implication being that I was dead, and the beasts had ripped the outpost out of the ground to get to me in a frenzy. Crazy sect, crazy sect leader, I muttered. It had been a mistake speaking about body cultivation in that sect meeting. Now my cultivation was even more complex. But I wanted to be the best, and I was going to be the best. That meant focusing everything I had into completing my cultivation.

I didnt know enough about wilderness survival to find food in the wilderness. And while I had never been a fan of streak, this was the cultivator lifestyle. If I left to get more supplies and comforts but didnt meet the deadlines the Sect Leader threw out, he would be very annoyed.

While he was helpful in many ways, I was under no delusions that he was my friend. Our relationship was one of mutual benefit. I didnt really understand the full picture of how he benefited, but there were several things that had been mentioned in passing. Being the sect mascot, helping elders with their Dao or path, getting resources, and charting a new path for cultivation techniques. Becoming an elder or even immortal wasnt even part of their consideration.

After my meal, I went to sleep. The next day I took the spirit stone off of the table, left the room, and sealed it back up. Just as I was about to clear the top of the stairs to the mountaintop, I felt a sense of unease. I looked around but didnt see anything. My sword was in my hand like always, when I left the outpost.

I carefully poked my head out of the top of the staircase and looked around, even above me. There was a massive form hiding behind some rocks that were behind the staircases direction. I checked again and there was only one beast. A rank 4 beast.

I wouldnt be able to ambush it. Their senses and intelligence were too good along with their cultivation. I might surprise it, but with the beast focused on me, I wouldnt be able to easily kill it. This was what the Sect Leader had told me would happen. I would kill too many beasts and would attract attention I couldnt easily handle.

Initially I had thought I would just run back to the outpost if a rank 4 beast appeared. Their large size, about the size of a semitruck, made it hard for them to maneuver. But it was clearly willing to wait and ambush me at the outpost. It wasnt stupid, which was the problem.

I looked at my sword. Against such a large beast it would struggle to get to a depth that would kill it in one blow. And while large, it would be more than happy to wait until I engaged another beast to ambush me.

The only option was to fight, here and now. I felt nervous. This wasnt like fighting the other beasts that were animals. This was an inhuman intelligence I had to kill no matter what, otherwise I would be eaten or trapped. Even if I ran away, I would run into another beast and then the rank 4 beast would do a pincer attack.

I might be able to kill two rank 3 beasts at once with a bit of luck and positioning. But against a rank 4 beast I knew I wasnt capable for that kind of combat. I took a deep breath to steady myself and exited the staircase and turned around.

I slowly began to circle where the rank 4 beast was hiding. For a massive creature, it picked its location very well, behind several rocks and almost looking like another off-colored rock in the group.

So, you spotted me, it muttered with a growl as it quickly emerged and stood up, turning to face me. I jumped slightly at the voice. The beast was massive. A bit small, but your cultivation smells delicious, it said with a grin that had far too many teeth.

I am Yuan Zhou of the Cloudy Moon Sect, I introduced myself while keeping my blade extended. It was a common courtesy for introductions before fighting to the death. Even with beasts and demonic cultivators. Most wouldnt observe such a thing, but when the beast was already speaking, then it did not matter.

I am Roaring Twilight Upon The Rocks, child of Whirling Flames From The Heavens, it replied. Its yellow eyes never leaving me or wavering in the slightest.

I dont suppose you will just leave or be willing to make a deal? I asked. If it had human level intelligence and could speak, that meant a bargain was possible.

Perhaps, but why should I cooperate with someone as weak and tasty as you? The other reason why cooperation never worked in all recorded texts was that the beasts would attack the moment they sensed weakness. Cultivators were delicious treats to them, that they couldnt resist.

Weak? Then I will gamble with my life, I boldly said while my heart was about to burst out of my chest. If I wound you, you will obey me. If I lose, well then you will devour me, I replied.

A deep wound. And if you are ever wounded in turn, and not by me, our deal would be over and I would eat you then. But if you manage to hold my life with your sword, then I will obey unless my life would be forfeit, Roaring Twilight said. I swear to this by the heavens and earth as witness.

I swear by the heavens and earth as witness, I replied. While there was nothing holding us to our words, breaking them would be considered a great shame. It made no sense, and I am sure there were cultivators who lied. But this deal only had upsides for me. I took a step forward and Roaring Twilight took a step back. I wasnt going to get anything better. Beasts werent lawyers unfortunately.

Little human, I will wait. We do not have to fight now. Go hunt. I will accompany you, Roaring Twilight said with a massive, malicious grin. Dammit, human level intelligence, meant it could see obvious loopholes and exploit them. It was also reassuring in a way, since if I did manage to deeply wound it, I would have a temporary ally. His wording was fairly loose, but a level 4 beast at my side would be a big help.

The problem was getting to that point. I kicked off the ground and the beast easily leaped backwards with a chuckle. Oh no, I am so weak, please dont hurt me, it teased. The effect was ruined by how its voice came out as a growl.

Fine, then attack from behind, I will be ready, I replied and turned away. Roaring Twilight followed me at a distance. I didnt even look at the beast anymore. How annoying. It was content to wear me down and attack at the worst possible moment.

One thing it didnt know was that I could locate it at any time. Its attack would not be surprise. Its shamelessness was impressive as well, but also revealed a fear. Being overly cautious was not always a good thing. It showed weakness of spirit. That was another thing Martial Elder Lei had talked to me about. Being decisive was just as important as any skill or technique in combat.

Roaring Twilight clearly was not willing to attack me head on. That lack of conviction showed that it was burdened with consciousness. It was overthinking things too much. Human level intelligence was also a weakness as it suppressed its instincts to shadow me. It was probably wondering how I had noticed it and wanted to observe anything I did.

I just needed to lure the beast in for an attack and be ready. As I left the area around the outpost, there was a level 3 beast who was rushing up the mountain at me. I adjusted my positioning to be on a nearby plateau.

The beast leapt at me. This time I didnt move to the side, but stepped forward and drove my sword directly into its head with a thrust. With my low stature, the blade was aimed upwards and I had moved into a position, so the beast had to rush right at me and wasnt pouncing.

Its bulk hit me, and I let go of my blade. Normally a foolish decision, but I needed to lure Roaring Twilight closer to in order to deal with that rank 4 beast. Ahhhh! I let out a fake scream of pain from under the massive rank 3 beast on top of me. Pushing the beast off I weekly crawled out. Roaring Twilight was closer than before.

Just as I was starting to crawl free. It leapt. While it had some patience, it didnt have that much. My cry of pain, combined with everything else, was enough for it to think attacking was a good idea. While beasts might inherit basic knowledge from the heavens and the earth through their cores, that didnt give them experience to recognize a trap that had been laid for them.