Chapter Two: Taking a Leap into the Wild
Dawn had broken, and the freezing gusts screamed through the slave quarters of the Tang estate. Mo Xuechen sat on his straw bed, eyes closed, feeling the dense energy emanating from the air. The God Assassin Technique he gained from the elixir strengthened his body with every breath, silently building his foundation.
A scornful voice cut through the morning fog.
"Everyone, gather round. Elder Wei has arrived"
The Tang family elder gray-haired man with eyes so sharp they could slash steel had his back turned to the cluster of slaves who rushed out of their quarters. His sheer presence demanded for silence. Beside him was a group of Tang family guards, swords resting at their belt.
"You will be picking herbs in Rising Dragon Mountain today," the elder announced. His cold stare swept over them. "No room for waste. Those who return with nothing will be punished accordingly."
The slaves steeled themselves, terror clouding over them like a wet mist.
Mo Xuechen, who just came out of his quarters was confused.
*Rising Dragon Mountain…?
He remembered nothing of it from the shattered recollections of the previous Mo Xuechen. But from the looks on the faces around him, it was clearly somewhere they did not want to be. He walked forward as he yawned lazily and his mouth sucked in the spiritual Qi in the air and the elder Tang Wei felt it and instantly turned back and he caught sights of Mo Xuechen silver hair.
"Weird, a slave shouldn't be able to absorb Qi that fast." the elder thought to himself before he gave Mo Xuechen a deep look before he disappeared.
As the slaves dispersed to get ready, Mo Xuechen dropped casually into step with a youth who seemed worried.
"Why do they all look as though they are off to their execution?" Mo Xuechen asked, in seeming .
The young man winced, glancing around then livening his tone. "It's dangerous. The mountain is filled with wild animals. And sometimes, cultivators from sects train there. If they find that we're standing in their path… we won't be returning."
Mo Xuechen nodded almost imperceptibly, hearing.
*A location with beasts and cultivators?*
*It was the bed place to test his body's new strength*. This was the perfect moment. He just had to avoid unwanted attention.
By noon, they had reached the outskirts of Rising Dragon Mountain.
The mountain peaks rose high into the mist, and the lowlands below teemed with life. Sounds of faraway roars echoed through the valley, making the spines of the weaker of the slaves tingle.
Mo Xuechen broke away from the others the moment they went into the forest. The rest of the slaves were too focused on surviving themselves to see.
He moved silently through the darkness, his footsteps making not a sound.
*Time to see just what this body is capable of.*
Seeing a mid-sized Ironhide Boar in the bone refining stage grubbing about in the bush, Mo Xuechen reached down and picked up a small stone and flipped it with precise force. The rock struck the boar in the eye, and the beast let out a furious bellow before coming at him.
He avoided the charge with ease.
Its movements were fast, faster than it's size, his reactions was just a fraction ahead of the beast. There was an unconscious feeling to it his body remembered fight before his head did.
The boar crashed into a tree, stunned.
Mo Xuechen scooped up a fallen branch, spun it in his hand, and forced it directly into the monster's throat or at least he tried, the branch instantly snapped. The boar slammed into his body and he was surprised that he was sent flying but didn't have any injuries.
He slamming into a few trees and the boar charged towards him again and he balled his hand into a fist and he circulated the God Assassin Technique in his body and his fist gleamed under the sunlight as he fist crashed with the boar's head pushing it backwards with a cracked skull and the boar shooked it's had before it stuck again and The God Assassin Technique circulated in Xuechen's body fats and he turned into a blur and he sent his fist upward crashing into the boar's head and it splashed into pieces.
He breathed slowly out.
His body quickly absorbed all the spiritual Qi in the boar's body and his cultivation went up to the the bone refining stage.
As he went deeper into the mountain, he encountered voices aheadbwhispered and saturated with hostility.
Peering through the leaves, he saw a fight between two groups of sect disciples. Their robes had differing symbols one group in dark red, the other in emerald green. The forest floor was splattered with blood.
One of the girls from the group in the dark crimson robes was hurt and spotted him. Her eyes were filled with desperation.
"Please! Help us!" she pleaded.
Another disciple from the green-robed faction turned to him, sneering. "If you're smart, you'll help us kill them instead. That way, you'll be in the good graces of the Green River Sect."
Both sides now looked to him, expecting a decision.
Mo Xuechen didn't move.
He wasn't dumb enough to believe that helping either side would benefit him. The as soon as his use ended, they'd kill him too.
He smiled brightly at them and sai
"Not my problem."
Then, he turned and walked away with his hand behaved his head.
The sect disciples were surprised for a moment. They were used to having people either beg them for mercy or quail from their wrath not be brushed aside flat-out.
"Wait—!"
One of them attempted to move towards him, but a thunderous sound was heard abruptly behind them made them redirect their attention to their battle as the other sect members were attacking them.
Mo Xuechen disappeared into the forest.
Suddenly he caught sight of the blade stuck in the stone behind them and he quickly returned. "Are you all fighting over that" He asked and the sect members quickly glared at him and he felt an immerse aura of people in the Meridian Cleansing realm slam down on him and he landed on his knees immediately.
He looked at them all in shock. They were all a 2 years younger than him yet they are already 1 major realm and an additional minor realm above him. Even the golden children of the Tang family isn't this good. Most of them just broke through to the Qi Cultivation realm but this kids were already at the mid Qi Cultivation realm (the meridian cleansing stage) and with a stable foundation.
"Don't desire something that isn't yours" the leader of the section disciples in green said
Mo Xuechen gritted his teeth against the choking oppression of the Meridian Cleansing realm disciples.His knees on the ground, his body braced.
"This is bad."
The difference in power was evident. The sect disciples had years of training with various techniques and teachers under the great sects. He, on the other hand, was merely at the Bone Refining Stage, a stage over a whole major realm above him
Even as he was ridiculed by the leader of the the sect disciples of the Green River Sect above, Mo Xuechen's mind remained calm.
"*What would I have done during my mercenary days?
Engaging them was impossible. Getting away, though, was a different story.
He gently exhaled, ordering his body to ease up as he watched their posture.
The Green river disciples leader, a young man with angular face lines, stood at the front, hands at his back too arrogant. The others, five of them, stood beside him in a casual arrangement, still scanning their red-garbed opponents.
They did not take him as a threat.
*Good. That's their fault.*
"You're a smart one," the leader said, his voice full of amusement. "Most people would be running for their lives, and you're just kneeling there and starting. What's your name?"
Mo Xuechen bent his head very slightly, a fake smile dancing on his lips.
*I can't walk you fucker* he thought to himself
"I don't see why I should tell you."
The smile in the leader's eyes faltered.
A second later—
BOOM!!!
The pressure intensified, making Mo Xuechen's knuckles crackbas the ground under him gained cracks. Blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth, but he still refused to yield.
*"Damn… if I were just one stage stronger, I would be able to resist this pressure better."*
The leader leaned in. "Arrogant for a mere Body refining cultivator. Do you wish to be a member of our Green River Sect?"
Mo Xuechen's thoughts revolved.
If he answered incorrectly, he would die.
If he answered correctly, he might still die.
So he did the one thing he was best at playing his opponents.
He let out a light laugh, his silver hair gleaming in the filtered light.
"I'm complimented," he answered smoothly, hiding his exhaustion. "But is this how you recruit people? By cracking open their knees first?"
The sect disciples laughed. Even the leader's mouth curled into a faint smile.
Mo Xuechen observed.
*This fellow enjoys power games.*
That meant he wouldn't kill Mo Xuechen immediately. He'd toy with him first.
Which gave him an opportunity.
Mo Xuechen glanced over at the blade lodged in the stone behind them.
It looked unremarkable at first glance a simple black hilt and a long, thin silver blade. But something about it called to him.
*This is what they're fighting over?*"
If two sect disciples would shed blood for it, then it was no ordinary sword.
The leader followed his line of sight and smiled. "Curious, aren't you?"
Mo Xuechen shrugged. "I like flashy things."
The leader chuckled. "It's no ordinary blade. A sword like this… even a sect inner disciple would die for it."
Mo Xuechen's mind spun.
If only he could claim it.
But before he could even process, the battlefield shifted.
The red-robed disciples, realizing their losing position, made a desperate counterattack.
*BOOM*
A powerful Qi wave exploded, shaking the earth.
Mo Xuechen responded in a split second.
Seizing the momentary distraction, he rolled sideways, vanishing into the shadows of the trees.
By the time the Green River Sect disciples had come back to him he was gone.
Mo Xuechen moved swiftly, his body moving at top speed among the dense shrubs.
But something unforeseen happened.
The further he went from the battlefield, the more he felt a pull.
A force, nigh whispering to him, urging him to go back.
He clenched his fists.
"The damn knife… is calling me?"
His instincts screamed. If he didn't do something about this, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
Making a quick decision to trust his instincts, he circled back and returned, staying behind the cover of the trees.
Below, the battle had grown bloody. The Green River Sect disciples were dominating, forcing their opponents on the retreat.
And in the mayhem, no one was monitoring the blade as various blade Qi flew everywhere leaving shallow marks on trees
*Now's my chance.*
Mo Xuechen fell silently from the trees, coming to rest close to the stone.
He extended—
And the instant his fingers made contact with the hilt—
*BZZZT!*
An overpowering energy flowed into his body, scorching through his veins.
He only just managed to stifle a scream.
This was no ordinary weapon.
The blade's Qi was alive.
His vision blurred, flashes of ancient battle* and slaughtered warriors flooding his mind.
Then, a voice whispered in his head.
"You are not worthy—"
"—Yet."
A violent shockwave erupted, sending him flying back.
Mo Xuechen crashed into a tree, coughing blood.
The battle halted instantly.
All the followers of the sect stood before him their eyes wide with shock.
"You… touched the sword?"
The leader's countenance darkened. "How dare you?" He shouted in anger
And then, for the very first time he looked at Mo Xuechen with murderous intent in his eyes.