16 Inner Depths (1/2)
Making up his mind, Shi Li removed the tusk from the boar's skull as he washed the blood off. He then proceeded to place the three corpses he got in a safe place since the corpses before their death stepped into the path of cultivation. It would be more valuable than the corpses of normal beasts.
After making sure that the corpses were truly safe, he opened the map from his eye and started to walk towards the center of the forest.
…
Huang Tiankong's room, Huang clan.
Huang Tiankong sat on his throne as he looked at the papers that was placed in front of him.
”Patriarch, these are the information we have accumulated from the pill the Red Dawn Pavillion was selling,” an attendant said to Huang Tiankong respectfully.
Huang Tiankong grabbed one of the papers and started to read what was written.
'Shackle Ascension Pill, a Grade 2 cultivation pill made for those at the peak Creation realm or Half-Ascended Mortal realm.'
'Allows the cultivator to have an increased chance of breaking through to the Ascended Mortal realm without any side effects.'
'When a peak Creation realm cultivator consumes this pill, it gives the cultivator an increased chance of 50% when attempting to break through to the Ascended Mortal realm.'
'When a Half-Ascended Mortal realm cultivator consumes this pill, it gives the cultivator an increased chance of 30% when attempting to break through to the Ascended Mortal realm.'
'Created by Hong Linxiang, a core alchemist of the Red Dawn Pavillion, Verdant Breeze Town branch. The full batch of pills created are 12 pieces: 2 sub-standard grade, 7 standard grade, 2 refined grade, and 1 exquisite grade.'
'Sub-standard grade versions of the pill reduce the chances by 10%, refined grade versions of the pill increase the chances by 5%, and exquisite grade versions of the pill increase the chances by 15%.'
'The sub-standard grade pills are being sold at 600 gold coins, standard grade at 1000 gold coins, refined grade at 1400 gold coins, and exquisite grade at 3000 gold coins.'
Reading the price of the exquisite grade Shackle Ascension Pill, Huang Tiankong wanted to cough up blood. But knowing that the exquisite grade pill would increase his chances of breaking through to the Ascended Mortal realm by an additional 15%, he had no choice but to think up of a way to buy it.
He looked at the attendant and asked, ”How much gold do we have in the treasury?”
The attendant respectfully replied, ”Answering patriarch, we currently have around 2000 gold coins.”
Huang Tiankong pondered for a bit before he responded without hesitation, ”Relay my orders to the elders of the clan. Sell eight Low Human grade weapons and one Middle Human grade weapon through the connections we have established with other clans.”
He continued as he squinted his eyes, ”But never sell these weapons to the Shi clan, okay?”
The attendant processed the information Huang Tiankong gave him before nodding his head. ”I shall do what the patriarch says.”
Not long after, the attendant left the room, leaving Huang Tiankong on his own, yet again.
”A few hours ago, I heard that Shi Li was on a tempering journey. I hope he gets eaten by a high-leveled beast hehehehe…”
…
Within the Forest of Ruin, the sun has started to set, covering the wide expanse of skies in a reddish hue, quite similar to the color of cherries. On the other side of the sky, a mix of navy blue and dark lavender covered it, with glistening stars dotted all over the place.
Achoo!
'Is someone talking about me again?' This thought passed his mind for an instant before looking at the path in front of him.
Shi Li wiped his nose as he continued to run towards the center. In these past few hours, Shi Li ran through 80 kilometers of the forest as he really wanted that Ruin Forest Wood.
Along the way, he would meet beasts that were about twice the size as him. But sometimes, these large beasts only had the cultivation of 2nd stage Skin Tempering, so to hone his combat experience even further…
...he fought with them.
Most of the time it was a one on one fight, sometimes two on one, but him winning was something that remained unchanged. With the help of his calm and calculative mind, he was able to kill those beasts in the smallest amount of times, even gaining the power to exceed his current strength. But that burst of power would only last for a few seconds before draining him out of energy.
For those at the peak stage of Skin Tempering or even higher, he tended to avoid them at all costs. He would usually take a longer detour, sneak past the beast's side, or anything to distract the beast, as long as he could pass through safely. He knew for a fact that if he fought with them, even with his newly gained skill, he would still end up as mincemeat. He wasn't some sort of courageous person that would sacrifice his life for just some fame.
And so, thirty minutes later, he was two kilometers away from the red area shown by the eye's map, which was the center of the forest.
He grabbed a dry ration from his satchel and took a bite out of bit before putting it back. His breathing was not too slow, nor too fast, it was stable, allowing him to run for long periods of time without losing much stamina. He learned this technique in his past life through a certain novel that talked about this technique. He tried it once and it was effective. From then onwards, he always used this technique, never even bothering to change.
”Finally, after five hours of continuous running, I'm almost close to the center area!” Shi Li couldn't help but shout because he was quite tired.
Not long after, a roar resounded throughout the forest, coming from beyond a hundred meters away from Shi Li.
Shi Li didn't mind this as he continued to run, but all of a sudden, he could hear footsteps, getting louder and louder, as if…
...it was coming for him.
Taking time to calculate probabilities of certain things, he decided to stop running and cover his tracks, before jumping up on a branch of a nearby tree. With that in place, he waited for the beast to come.
In just two minutes, the beast showed itself to Shi Li, making him shudder in fear.
It was covered in dark red fur as its eyes were black like the moonless sky. Its paws held claws that would slice through flesh as if it was a scissor cutting through paper.
Not only that, the aura it exuded was multiple times stronger than Shi Li's, making his heartbeat rise unconsciously. This wasn't a matter of suppression of auras anymore, but it was a matter of suppression of existence!
Judging by the structure of the body and its face, Shi Li determined it as a bear-type beast. The aura it exuded was quite terrifying as well, it was as if the strength wasn't only on the outside, but rather, on the inside as well.
Coming to a conclusion, Shi Li estimated that the bear-type beast's cultivation realm is at least the 2nd stage of Bone Tempering or higher!
Bone Tempering realm cultivators could beat tens of Skin Tempering realm cultivators with a punch. This was always the line used to describe them. As to why, it was quite simple. That's because Bone Tempering realm cultivators can also use their bones to exert more strength!
Shi Li thought up of a plan and grabbed a small branch before throwing it behind the bear's back.
Snap!
The branch made a small sound, but for the bear, it was enough for it to become vigilant of its surroundings.
”Now's the chance!” Shi Li jumped off the branch, and using all of his strength, dashed towards the red area.
Looking at the fleeting silhouette of Shi Li, the bear was furious at it began to give chase, slowly closing the gap between them.
Shi Li gasped for air as he continuously ran at his fullest. He looked back and saw that there was only a ten meter gap between him and the bear.
Even though his body shivered, knowing the possibility of being eaten, he wasn't going to stand still and let himself be eaten!
Taking a deep breath, he asked the eye first.
'What price do I have to pay to get a permanent boost in movement speed?'
~~~~~~~~
Price to be paid: 5 Fleeting Wind Leaves, any Grade 1 cultivation pill related to movement speed, 10% of user's mental energy