Chapter 155 (Patreon)

‘People?’ Xinmo thought to himself, looking to his right. He thought he could hear voices.

‘Better stay away.’

He pushed away from the ground with his feet, almost leaping into the sky from the power, rushing deeper into the Heaven-Reaching Forest.

“Hey!”

Xinmo turned his head around at the call, but he kept running.

“Stop!”

Xinmo hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided on stopping. He wasn’t a fugitive or anything; he just preferred to be on his own and not get involved with any other groups.

“Who are you?” One of the men who had run after him asked as they caught up. He looked at Xinmo’s robes and commented, “A disciple? Why are you out here alone?”“We got separated,” Xinmo answered. It wasn’t the truth, but he didn’t feel like explaining anything. 

"Separated?" Another of the men asked. They were a group of four men and one woman. 

“How long has it been? Do you know where they are?” The sole woman there asked, “The Sect has set up a station by the Badu Family. It’s just a day’s travel from here; I think it’s most likely your group has headed there. We’re just headed there ourselves, if you want to travel together.”Xinmo smiled politely, but shook his head. “Thank you, but they should be close by. I’ll continue looking for them.”“Are you sure?” One of the men asked.

“I’m sure. Thank you,” Xinmo said, smiling. He could tell that they were being genuine.

The group of five looked at each other briefly before the woman spoke up, “Alright. We’ll be on our way then. Good luck.”After saying their piece, they turned around and headed north, and Xinmo continued heading east.

‘Decent people. Good thing I wasn’t paired up with them, or I would have felt bad for abandoning them.’

Xinmo’s group hadn’t been separated; he had simply left them.

He had planned on venturing out on his own all along. It was his plan when he accepted the mission back in the Sword Sect. 

But when he was put in a group by the Elder who brought them out to the Heaven-Reaching Forest, and then instructed to stay together during the mission, Xinmo had second thoughts.

He would feel guilty if he abandoned his group and they later got hurt, or even died.

He would probably get into a lot of trouble as well.

But luckily, the people he got grouped up with were all insufferable, saying that Xinmo was dead weight because of his lack of spiritual roots, and complained about having to drag him along.

So Xinmo had just suggested that they each go their own way, and his group members had agreed.

Everyone was happy.

‘Just a day away from the Badu Family. It seems I’m not as far away from everyone else as I thought.’

‘Maybe that’s good, though. I want a challenge, but if I run into a Foundation stage beast, it’s all over.’

Xinmo hadn’t really kept track of where he was going, just running around, hunting and fighting beasts. 

He now had five beast bodies inside his storage ring. 

‘Maybe I should head to the sect station. I won’t fit many more beasts.’

It wasn’t so much about wasting the merits he could earn from turning them in, as it just felt like a waste. Xinmo might be rich, but that was because his grandfather had given him so many spirit stones. He couldn’t start acting extravagantly and waste those spirit stones that his family worked hard to provide for him back home.

‘One more fight. Then I’ll go take a break and turn in the beasts I’ve slain.’

Xinmo continued forward, constantly on the lookout for any beasts.

‘I’ll continue hunting for beasts in this area for a few more days. If I still haven’t found a beast that challenges me enough by the time I fill up my storage ring again, I’ll have no choice but to head deeper into the forest.’

The area Xinmo was in wasn’t really that dangerous; it was on the absolute outskirts of the Heaven-Reaching Forest. The chance of running into a Foundation stage beast was basically zero.

That wasn’t always the case, but now, the deeper parts of the Heaven-Reaching Forest in this area were filled with Foundation Elders and disciples, hunting the stronger beasts and making sure they couldn’t make their way through to where disciples like Xinmo were hunting.

Xinmo didn’t know all the details of what had happened, but from what was told, there had been a great surge in beasts in this area lately. The Qi-Refining families in the area had sent messages to the Sword Sect about the matter, and after confirming the increase of beasts, a mission had been issued within the sect.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of disciples had signed up to come over and clear the forest. It was an excellent opportunity to earn merit, spirit stones, and gain some real fighting experience.

Xinmo obviously wasn’t indifferent to those rewards, but that wasn’t his biggest reason for joining the mission. He had actually been trying to find a way to get to the Heaven-Reaching Forest for years now. He felt he was finally ready for the final step in comprehending his sword intent; all he needed was a proper fight.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy to go to the Heaven-Reaching Forest under normal circumstances, at least not for Xinmo. It wasn’t impossible, but he would have to take care of everything himself.

So he had been planning. For the past few years, he had tried to gather as much information about the Heaven-Reaching Forest as he could. What the different areas were like, what type of beasts lived there, what kind of transportation was available.

The issue was that the areas where everyone had ‘free access’ to do as they wished were far too dangerous. Xinmo wanted a proper fight, one where his life would actually be in danger, something he could never get within the sect. But he didn’t want to just offer himself up to be killed. He didn’t actually want to die after all.

So he had to make sure that the area he went to wasn’t occupied by any Foundation stage beasts. 

He had found that there were plenty of those areas on the outskirts close to the Sword Sect’s territory.  But the outskirts of the Heaven-Reaching Forest weren’t unpopulated by humans. Apparently, there were a few sparse spiritual veins that had been captured by humans, and were now occupied by various Family Clans, like the Badu Family that he was close to.

Those families paid a fee to the Sword Sect to live there and cultivate. That fee also gave them the right to gather spiritual plants and hunt for beasts within a certain area surrounding their spiritual vein. If Xinmo started hunting beasts there, there was a risk of being discovered and creating a bunch of trouble for himself.

So he had been at a bit of a loss.

Fortunately, the surge of beasts became a bit too much for those families to handle, and the sect had been called in to hunt them down. So now, Xinmo finally had the chance to fight as he wished.

‘Maybe I can find a 2nd tier spiritual vein around here. That should give me some kind of privilege to claim it, right?’

Xinmo knew that his family already lived on a 2nd tier vein, but that was just a small estate. He felt like the Shu Clan should have its own spiritual mountain.

‘Then again, this area is pretty abandoned. Alchemy and formations shouldn’t be a problem, but the Shu Sword Hall definitely can’t be put up here.’

The outskirts of the Heaven-Reaching Forest weren’t an Immortal Land; it was just a vast expanse of area with sparse spiritual qi, with a few spiritual veins in the 1st tier spread around. 

The true Immortal Lands, with plenty of spiritual veins of the 2nd tier and higher, were deep inside the Heaven-Reaching Forest, occupied by Beast Clans.

‘I guess if not the Sword Sect, the beasts here would have long noticed any spiritual veins. I doubt I’d be lucky enough to find one everyone else has missed.’

Night soon arrived, and morning followed. Xinmo didn’t find a single beast to fight.

‘Maybe we have hunted them all. There were a lot of disciples dispatched, after all.’

‘Does that mean we’ll be recalled soon? That’s not good.’

Xinmo could probably stay around for a while, and even if the main force of the Sword Sect left, he could get back with the help of one of the Family Clans in the area. But that would mean there was a risk of Foundation beasts appearing.

‘I can consider that later. I should still have at least a week.’

Xinmo continued, heading further west, looking out for any signs of beasts as he ran at full speed.

‘Maybe I ca-’

Xinmo’s thoughts were interrupted as something crashed into his side, and he felt something sharp pierce his shoulder.

“Ahh!” Xinmo screamed out in pain. He crashed to the ground, a heavy, furry beast landing on his body, making him gasp for breath.

‘It’s a…wait? That’s impossible.’

Xinmo stabbed the tiger-like creature in the eye with his fingers. A sharp cry rang out, and its teeth slipped out of Xinmo’s shoulder. 

He hurried to his feet, taking a proper look.

‘Those are…wings.’

Xinmo took several steps back, heart pounding.

‘Am I seeing things?’

After reading everything he could about the topic, he was obviously familiar with the overlords of the Heaven-Reaching Forest. The Winged Tiger Clan. A Beast Clan so powerful that even the Sword Sect feared it.

He had read descriptions of it. He had seen drawings of it.

Everything matched perfectly with the beast before him. But he didn’t understand how it was possible. 

‘What would a Winged Tiger be doing here? What’s going on?’

Stumbling upon a Winged Tiger here was like if he were hunting down some robbers back home south of the Desolate Mountains, only to find one of them was the son of the Sword Sect Master. It didn’t make any sense.

The Winged Tiger roared and flew toward Xinmo, claws outstretched. He gripped the hilt of his sword, terrified. Absolutely terrified. The Winged Tiger wasn’t stronger than him in cultivation. It might even be weaker.

But the bloodline it carried made it the greatest threat he had ever faced.

In the blink of an eye, the Winged Tiger was in front of him. Xinmo had to fight every instinct in his body not to pull out his sword, instead meeting the claws with his fist. 

But the claws of the tiger circumvented his arm, impossibly, slashing his chest.

“Aaaahh!” Xinmo cried out. He had been fighting beasts several times now, and his body always held out somewhat to their attacks. But not this time; the claws tore through his body like it was made out of butter. His ribs snapped like strings one after another as the claw came down.

Xinmo placed a hand on the wound, wincing in pain. He took several steps back in a panic. 

‘No. I’m going to die.’

His hand reached his sword hilt once again. He clenched it.

The Winged Tiger leapt up to the stem of a tree, using it as some kind of springboard, and then shot back toward him.

‘I’m going to die.’

Everything seemed to slow down. 

Xinmo remembered that girl he had seen over a decade ago. The one he later learned was named Jiu Yinlin. She had stared at him, and it felt like he was about to be cut to pieces just from that look.

He had then learned about Xiujian Peak, where she came from. He had learned about their ‘Hidden Blade.’

Slowly, an idea had formed. He saw a path for himself. It would require everything he had. He would have to give up the sword that he loved for it. He might have to die for it.

He really should have just forgotten about it. But the idea was impossible to get rid of once it had taken root.

Xinmo remembered what his father had once told him. Or well, what his mother forced him to tell all the children. That the first time he saw Xinmo’s mother, he had fallen in love. That he would only marry her in this life. If it wasn’t her, then it would be no one.

All of these things came together for Xinmo back then. 

He would make the same choice his father did. He would make a choice and stick to it, no matter what.

‘In this life, I will only ever swing my sword once.’

‘Only once, and then never again.’

The Winged Tiger was right in front of him. Those claws were sure to cut his head off in just another second.

‘That swing won’t be for you, beast.’

‘Even if it kills me. I won’t swing it.’

Xinmo’s hand let go of the hilt of the sword.

His eyes caught the eyes of the Winged Tiger. 

The Winged Tiger’s pupils constricted.

And then it split in two.