Chapter 39: Plans
After eating breakfast, Jian Chen and Tie Ta both grabbed their respective weapons before continuing on with their journey. However, trailing behind them was the dainty Liang Xiaole, who was empty handed. She looked around herself carefully due to her own weapon being long gone after she had been separated from her group and chased through the forest.
Tie Ta lifted his battleaxe; his clothes were already swapped out. This time, he was wearing Blue Wolf leather along with some grassroot to hold it together. His academy uniform was long since torn apart from yesterday’s battle to the point where he couldn’t wear it anymore.
In the blink of an eye, another day came and went. By looking at the profits, they weren’t as good as the first day, but they weren’t bad either. In total, they had killed 70 magical beasts, making Liang Xiaole feel shocked.
On this second day, Liang Xiaole went through a major change. Ever since the spectacle with the Blue Wolves, her entire personality had transformed. At the very least, whenever she saw a magical beast, she wouldn’t scream in terror anymore. And whenever Tie Ta and Jian Chen would slaughter any enemy magical beast, she didn’t even flinch at the sight of the blood. She was slowly starting to adapt to her situation..
Not only that, but in the same day, she had unexpectedly learned much about the dangers of the forest and gained knowledge pertaining to them. Her capacity for learning was extremely high, and even Jian Chen couldn’t help but admire it. Of course, what was important was looking at her talent for cultivation, since in the Tian Yuan continent, one’s own strength was what dictated who they were over everything else.
Liang Xiaole was also extraordinarily smart. Although she wasn’t very strong, she definitely didn’t cause trouble for Tie Ta or Jian Chen, nor was she a burden like the two had previously thought she would be. She would stay behind the two, and whenever the two fought against a magical beast, she would stand far away so that she wouldn’t get caught up in it.
After that day, both Jian Chen or Tie Ta had a new levels of respect for Liang Xiaole, and no longer belittled her in their hearts.
Later that night, the three of them sat by the campfire to count the pile of monster cores.
“Dear seniors, have you two really not condensed your Saint Weapons and become Saints yet?” Liang Xiaole asked as she stared at them with her bright eyes. What a strange question. Her clothes were already filled with holes from the trees and thorns that stabbed and cut into her, and her pretty face resembled a kitty from the whisker like cuts. Since there were no water sources, she had to rely on drinking the blood of the magical beasts in order to stave off the thirst, and so there was no way she could wash off the filth on her face.
“If we were Saints, why would I be using this axe?” Tie Ta looked at his bundled up and heavily nicked battleaxe with no small amount of dissatisfaction.
After continued usage with Tie Ta’s strength, the giant battleaxe had finally worn out; the previously sharp edge was now becoming blunt after use. Even the previously sharp point on Jian Chen’s corroded iron rod had nearly become flat.
Liang Xiaole’s face was full of admiration as she stared at the two, “You two are really amazing; you’re not even at the Saint level yet and you can easily kill Class 1 Magical Beasts. In my opinion, once you reach the Saint level, you will be able to kill Class 2 Magical Beasts with ease.”
Jian Chen shook his head, “How would it be easy? These are magical beasts that were bred by the academy, so they have weak attack power. When we meet magical beasts with a stronger attack, then we will definitely have a harder time with it.”
Liang Xiaole nodded her head and said grimly, “That’s right. I’ve heard my dad say before that there are some amazing Class 1 Magical Beasts that can spit out some low level spells with a high amount of attack power. They’re so strong, that some normal Saints aren’t powerful enough to beat them.”
Jian Chen looked at Tie Ta, who was focusing on the campfire, “Tie Ta, right now there isn’t anything in the 2nd region that could stand a chance against us, so I want to move to the 3rd region. How do you feel about that?”
Tie Ta gave it some thought before saying, “Right, the 2nd region is already very easy for us since there isn’t a challenge anymore. Okay then, Changyang Xiang Tian, I’ll enter the 3rd region with you. It’s time to see how strong the Class 2 Magical Beasts really are.”
Hearing the two talk, Liang Xiaole who was sitting nearby said, “It can’t be, you two haven’t reached the Saint level and you still want to enter the 3rd region to fight Class 2 Magical Beasts? Without a Saint Weapon, there’s no guarantee of survival, and the skin of a Class 2 Magical Beast is stronger than that of Class 1 Magical Beasts, so it’s even tougher. You two only have a worn battleaxe and corroded iron rod, so that’ll make killing even harder. Not only that, but the environment in the 3rd region isn’t good at all; I’ve heard that there’s even a marsh filled with poisonous vipers inside. There’s a high chance you of losing your lives in the dangerous 3rd region.”
Tie Ta laughed as he looked at my weapon, “That’s right, Changyang Xiang Tian, over these past 2 days, our weapons have been in constant use, and my battleaxe has lost its sharpness. Even your own iron rod is almost flat, so it would be hard to kill Class 2 Magical Beasts.”
Jian Chen laughed, “There’s no rush, there are still plenty of students in the 2nd region. We still haven’t met with other students because we’re still far away from them. We should return tomorrow, and exchange monster cores for weapons, since the students would be definitely interested.”
“Yea, that’s a good idea,” Tie Ta nodded in agreement.
Jian Chen continued, “Liang Xiaole, let’s split up tomorrow. If you’re with other students, then you should be able to safely pass through your last day. After all, anyone who has been able to endure 2 days here must have some real skills.”
Liang Xiaole nodded wordlessly. Her expression was a bit disappointed; after all, she also knew of the 3rd region’s dangers. She was unsure if Jian Chen and Tie Ta would be able to go against those magical beasts. If she continued along with them, even if Jian Chen and Tie Ta agreed to let her accompany them, she would only be a baggage that would hold them down.
The night passed without incident. Soon, the sky began to brighten. Jian Chen and Tie Ta finished their night of cultivation, and began to prepare breakfast.
After the three of them had finished eating, the sun had already gradually began to rise into the sky. They continued on their way; however, this time, they had begun walking back in the direction they had come from.
After two days of battles, the two boys had already become extremely skilled at sensing and avoiding danger, so it didn’t take long for them to arrive at their destination.
Under a large tree, nine students in tattered clothing were tiredly sitting underneath, catching their breaths. They were a group of commoners mixed with some nobles. At the moment, their clothes were ripped all over the place, with some dried out bloodstains covering them as well. They also sported injuries on their bodies, and not far from them was a carcass of a magical beast lying on the ground.
“Everyone, hold on for just a bit longer. This is already the last day. After this day ends, we can leave,” a commoner student breathlessly said.
“It’s unfortunate that we don’t have enough Magic Stones yet, we still need five more. It looks like we still have to slaughter five more magical beasts to pass.” said a young noble. Originally, the nobles hadn’t been willing to stay together with the commoners, but after encountering the savage magical beast, they were immediately scared out of their wits. Faced with life or death, who would care about people’s statuses? Protecting oneself was the greater priority. Thus, the few nobles had gradually decided to join the commoner students. After all, everyone knew there was strength in numbers. In addition, perhaps because the commoners had been raised in harsher environments, they did not show any signs of retreating when faced with savage magical beasts. This changed the arrogant nobles’ views of the commoners. Eventually, they had all slowly become friends.
Moreover, after constantly fighting against magical beasts, the nine of them had become more comfortable working together. Eventually, they had formed an unexpected bond that held all of them together with close relationships.
At that moment, there was a movement in the grass off in the distance.
“Everyone, be careful. A magical beast is attacking.” A student immediately reacted and loudly warned the others. Instantly, the nine of them stood up and stared with wary expressions towards the direction the sound had come from.
The grass swayed vigorously. Eventually, they saw a figure wearing beast leather swinging a large hatchet around, cutting down the weeds in his way. Right after the group noticed him, they saw that there were two other figures following behind him as well. Although their clothes were tattered, it was obvious that they were all wearing the Kargath Academy uniforms.
Perhaps because they had been traveling through the lush forest for so long, but their faces were dark, and they had random twigs in their hair. Only their general facial structures could be seen; their appearances were already indistinguishable.
Realizing that the figures were people and not magical beasts, the nine students immediately sighed in relief, and smiles slowly spread across their faces. At this point, if they could get those new people to join them, then the overall strength of their group would definitely rise. Hunting magical beasts would be much easier. In addition, all of them were smart enough to realize that these people who had stayed here for 3 days must be quite powerful.
Of course, these three people were Jian Chen, Tie Ta, and Liang Xiaole. After backtracking for half a day, they had finally discovered a group of people.
Since it was already the last of the three days, there weren’t many people remaining in the forest. Most of them had already ran away, and so there were very few students that were still here.
When Liang Xiaole’s gaze rested on a gorgeous girl standing amongst the group of nine, she showed a pleasantly surprised expression.
“Ah! Li Sha!” Liang Xiaole shouted out with an extremely excited voice, as she immediately flew towards the gorgeous girl.
Hearing a slightly familiar voice, the girl blinked her large, shining eyes, and gazed at Liang Xiaole, who was running towards her, in slight confusion. Currently, Liang Xiaole’s face was covered with quite a bit of dirt, making her look like a calico cat. Even if this girl called Li Sha did know Liang Xiaole well, it was difficult for her to recognize Liang Xiaole with her current appearance.
Liang Xiaole rushed to the girl, and excitedly hugged her tightly. In a tone filled with joy, she said, “Li Sha, I hadn’t imagined that I would’ve been able to see you again here. I thought you had already left the forest.”
Hearing the overly familiar voice, the girl named Li Sha finally recognized who Liang Xiaole was. Pleasantly surprised, she said, “You…you’re Xiao Le.”