Huang Ying made his way through the forest with calm steps, his eyes curiously flickering all around him as he walked. The part of the forest that he was walking through right now had surprisingly few trees, with a large distance between each tree, but their crowns were so large that they still connected together and thus when looked at from above it seemed like the forest was just as dense as everywhere else.
Three days had passed since Huang Ying had landed in this forest and the passage of time had left a few marks on him and his appearance. His previously pristine white robe was tattered and torn, the entire upper section removed and only just barely leaving his pants. This was also the last of his robes, so once these pants were ruined he would be in something of an awkward position.
His black hair was caked with dried blood and had already clumped up, dirt and dried blood also staining the rest of his body and making him look like he was in a rather poor shape. It wasn't that there weren't any streams or lakes here where he could clean himself, the problem was that all these streams and lakes were a hotbed for Demonic beasts.
Water was the source of life so each stream or river was lorded over by one or more Demonic beasts of considerable strength, it would not be easy for Huang Ying to reach one. For now, he could manage by drinking the water that gathered up in some of the leaves higher up on the trees, but he knew that he would find a proper solution, and it would be better to do so sooner rather than later. While Huang Ying was walking with calm yet determined steps, clearly with a goal in mind, the voice of Li Jun echoed out in his head.
"There's more that have taken the bait, there's three of them coming from the tree crowns behind you, they're only about half a kilometer away."
Huang Ying gave a fractional nod to show his understanding, his steps continuing as if he hadn't heard anything. He quietly focused on his own perception, which had extended to 15 meters already after these three days. Before long, the targets did, in fact, enter his perception from behind, showing that Li Jun hadn't been lying.
The ones that showed up this time were three Demonic beasts resembling monkeys, their lanky bodies slightly larger than a grown man's. They were covered in dim green fur that blended in with the leaves and they had something that resembled branches growing on their necks and backs, forming a thin defensive layer. The three monkeys were a bit stronger than the wasps he faced when he just arrived in the forest, they had all reached the 5th Mortal Step.
The three monkeys quietly swung through the trees as they snuck up on Huang Ying, all three of them launching themselves forward when they were a mere 10 meters away from him. Huang Ying let go of the bloody leather bag he had slung over his left shoulder, causing it to drop to the ground with a meaty thud.
His right hand reached for one of the parts of his spear at the same time as he let go of the bag, his body spinning around and slashing out with the sharp blade. The edge of the blade cut into the head of one of the apes, just below the eyes, and cleanly cut its head in two before it even had the chance to realize that they had been discovered.
Huang Ying's left hand rapidly grabbed onto the second part of his spear and he drew it out while using the momentum of his still ongoing spin to also slash out with the second blade. The second blade sliced through the throat of a second monkey, cutting so deep that it was nearly decapitated.
The earth beneath him rose up into small pillars that stopped his spin just as his second blade cut through the throat of the second monkey, allowing him to slam the bottom of the first blade into the bottom of the second blade and assembling his spear without his direction altering. He used the force of the heavy assembly to push his spear forward and past the second monkey, piercing through the right lung of the third monkey that had been lagging a bit behind.
He exerted his might and raised the spear high after piercing the monkey, twisting his body and slamming the monkey down to the ground behind him. He then swiftly raised his left leg and brought it down on the throat of the monkey, shattering its neck and ending its life with one swift move.
The entire process had taken less than three seconds, all three monkeys swiftly dispatched with Huang Ying barely having to use any energy on them. His movements had been fluid and effortless, as if they had been ingrained into his very core, a neat little perk that he had discovered as he devoured Demonic beasts.
Devouring humans allowed him to acquire their memories and battle skills, he just had to go through some battles or training to properly test and familiarize himself with the skills. But Demonic beasts also had their own way of fighting, wild and instinctual moves that nature had granted them ever since birth.
Each Demonic beast he devoured had these instincts, and each of them gave these instincts to him when he devoured them. Each human devoured raised his Qi and battle skills, each Demonic beast devoured strengthened his body and instincts, the law of devouring was quickly showing its effectiveness.
Huang Ying disassembled his spear and used one of the blades to cut off a chunk of flesh from one of the monkeys, the rest of the remains quickly getting swarmed by mud-like darkness covered in grinning maws. Huang Ying opened his leather bag and revealed that it was filled with several other chunks of flesh, his free hand momentarily sifting through the various pieces.
"You should be the oldest one, off you go."
He picked out a piece of meat that had already dried up and was starting to release a foul smell, the mud-like darkness stretching out to snatch up the chunk of flesh. He then placed the new chunk of meat into his bag and tied it up, once again slinging it over his shoulder before he started walking again.
He wasn't carrying around these chunks of flesh just for fun, their bloody scent attracted other Demonic beasts that thought they could get an easy meal. But while this gave Huang Ying a steady supply of beasts to devour, the blood dripping from the bag further worsened his dirty state and it also smelled pretty bad, some of the meat turning rancid as time passed. As Huang Ying continued to walk, his gaze continuing to curiously sweep his surroundings, the voice of Li Jun once again rang out within his mind.
"So, isn't it about time that you tell me exactly where it is you're heading? You're heading in the exact opposite direction of people and good Demonic beasts to devour, there probably isn't anything even remotely good or worthwhile in a place like this."
Li Jun couldn't help but be rather curious exactly where Huang Ying was heading with such sure step, his direction had barely changed ever since he left the hill where he killed the wasp Demonic beasts. But just like all the previous times, Huang Ying only dismissively waved his hand.
"You'll see, you'll see, we're almost there so you can stop nagging now. Don't worry, I'll head in a proper direction once I've finished this."
Li Jun could only create a clicking sound that Huang Ying imagined was him trying to click his tongue in annoyance, continuing to quietly wait while Huang Ying walked. Huang Ying proved that he was true to his words, it was only two hours later that he reached the spot he had seen in the memories of the wasps.
There was nothing remarkable about the area where he had arrived, the green grass was undisturbed and everything looked the same as everywhere else. There was only one thing different about this area, there was a skeleton lying on the ground a few steps away from Huang Ying. The skeleton was picked clean of meat, the bones covered in bite marks and with a few pieces missing here and there, nabbed by Demonic beasts or even normal animals.
The skeleton was in a rather poor shape, the cause of death clearly evident by how the back of the skull was smashed open. But even in death, this skeleton reached for a broken sword that was stabbed into the ground only a few centimeters away, rust covering the handle and the remains of the blade. Seeing the thing that Huang Ying had spent three days of time to reach, Li Jun couldn't help but comment and question.
"This is it? You came here just for this corpse? The bones don't have any shine to them so it shouldn't be the remains of a strong cultivator. The blade has also rusted this badly despite not showing any signs of having been doused in the blood of any mighty Demonic beasts or cultivators, it should just be a normal weapon. What exactly here was it that caught your interest, is there some secret here?"
Huang Ying paid no mind to Li Jun's questions, walking up to the corpse and giving the earth beside it a tap with the tip of his foot. The earth beneath the corpse moved aside and formed a six-foot deep grave, the skeleton dropping down into the grave. Huang Ying then picked up the broken blade and changed the position of the skeleton, turning it on its back and then placing the blade on its chest. He then took a step back and silently gazed at the open grave, placing his hand over his heart while plainly stating.
"No secret, I only came here to bury this corpse. His body may have given out on him, but his determination didn't. Even in death, he reached for his weapon so that he could keep fighting. I don't know who he was, but such determination is worthy of respect, he deserves to at least be buried. Who knows, even I might be in this position one day. At that time, I hope someone will at least bury what's left of me."
Huang Ying had seen the death of this man through the memories of the wasps, they had been flying by as he was being killed. He continued to reach for his weapon even as his skull was smashed in and he drew his last breath, he wanted to keep fighting.
There was a stunned silence from Li Jun after he heard the truth, he was unable to wrap his head around why Huang Ying would do something so pointless. But that was the difference between them, one saw it as pointless and one saw it as worthwhile. Huang Ying gave the corpse a minute of silence before tapping the ground again, the grave closing up and granting the deceased a proper, if unmarked, resting ground. After he finished the procedure, Huang Ying turned his head to the east, his lips curving up slightly once more.
"Alright then, I'm getting somewhat hungry, so how about we go get cleaned up?"
Li Jun couldn't see the memories Huang Ying had acquired so he had no idea what he was talking about, but Huang Ying didn't explain as he started making his way eastward with quick steps. His new destination wasn't far away, it only took him half a day of walking to reach it.
His new destination was located in an area where the trees were starting to grow a bit closer to each other again so the spot he picked out could be considered something of a small clearing. A small lake, only about 30 meters in diameter, was present close to the edge of the clearing, the water moving slightly and showing that there was probably an underground river running beneath the lake.
But when Huang Ying stepped into the clearing and dropped the leather bag slung over his shoulder, his gaze was never on the lake, it was on the being resting in the shade of a drooping weeping willow right next to the lake. The being resting there was a nearly four-meter long and two-meter tall Demonic beast that resembled a muscular brown rottweiler with eyes that were strangely light green. Growing out from its back were two pairs of wings that looked like they belonged on a dragonfly, not a dog, they looked far too thin and delicate to be able to support the large frame of the beast.
The eyes of the beast were locked on Huang Ying, a low grumbling sound slipping through its sharp teeth to warn him to stay away. This beast was the strongest one Huang Ying had encountered so far, it had reached the 7th Mortal Step. He was confident that he could deal with a human cultivator of this level, but it was a widely known fact that Demonic beasts were stronger than human cultivators of the same level so he wasn't completely certain just how this battle would go. But even so, he stepped forward with a confident stride, a small grin present on his face.
"Yo, I'm looking to pick up a beast companion or two, you wouldn't happen to be interested? You wanna be a good doggy, right?"
(Right, so a quick note for everyone. Christmas season has arrived, and since I work in the restaurant industry this means that I will be scraped for both time and energy, especially as I'm also juggling four different stories at the moment. As such, there will be times where there are gaps like this in the chapter releases, at least until the end of december. Don't worry, I'm not dropping the story and will do my best to get out chapters whenever I can.)
