Chapter 5: Panic, Mysterious girl
Seven Horn Mountain.
Xiao Chen made his way up to the mountain peak. Having cultivated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, he could feel how his perception had grown sharper than it was before. He could clearly feel that the forest in the mountain was filled with the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth. At the moment, he was looking for the area with the densest Spiritual Energy inside within the surroundings of the mountain range.
Although he did not succeed in condensing his Martial Spirit yesterday, he had not given up on hope. In the Compendium of Cultivation, aside from the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, which was a foundation for cultivating, there were also the methods of refining medicinal pills.
Based on his experience so far, he discovered that the herbs of this world were identical to those recorded in the Compendium of Cultivation. As long as he cultivated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation for a period of time and condensed the most basic flames, he could refine medicinal pills. With the aid of medicinal pills, there would be some hope in condensing his Martial Spirit.
Suddenly, by virtue of Xiao Chen’s perception, he noticed an area roughly 500 meters in front of him. There seemed to be an abundance of Spiritual Energy there. He raised his head to take a better look. The vegetation was lush, sturdy, and vigorous, whereas the trees in this spot seemed to be thicker than those in other areas. Xiao Chen smiled, having finally found it, and pushed aside the branches in his way and dashed over.
When he was near the place with abundant Spiritual Energy, Xiao Chen stopped. This kind of place would usually have a strong Spirit Beast lurking around. The perception of Spirit Beasts exceeded a human’s, so it was impossible for them to not sense it. Such a good cultivation ground would definitely have already been occupied.
He had to find it first. The strongest Spirit Beasts in these parts were only Rank 2, about equivalent to a human peak Martial Disciple. With Xiao Chen’s current cultivation, in addition to the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation and if he took advantage of his surroundings, he could find an opportunity to kill it.
There was a cool breeze, causing the leaves to dance lightly and gracefully. Xiao Chen used his nose to sniff the air, catching wind of a light scent of blood. However, this scent had been around for a long time and had turned faint. If Xiao Chen’s nose was not sensitive, he might not have caught whiff of it.
Could it be that the Spirit Beast he was tracking down had already been slain by someone? Xiao Chen thought deeply, with some suspicions in mind. He advanced by another few steps, only to finally see the dead Spirit Beast under a tree.
After Xiao Chen took a closer look, he was shocked. This dead Spirit Beast was a Two-Tailed Spirit Fox. Looking at the wounds on the body, he only noticed a sword wound on its neck, having been killed with just one slash of the sword by someone.
The Two-Tailed Spirit Fox was a peak existence of the Rank 2 Spirit Beast. Well-renowned for its monstrous speed, it could be said to be unrivaled within the outskirts of Seven Horn Mountain. Furthermore, this Spirit Beast was very intelligent and cunning. If it encountered a strong opponent, it would take the first opportunity it could to flee.
However, given its condition, it was obvious that the moment it was discovered, it was killed with a slash and died immediately without even the chance to flee. When Xiao Chen thought of this, he could not help but shudder.
The Two-Tailed Spirit Fox was extremely fast, so how quick did this strike have to be in order to kill it in one slash? This person was definitely at least in the Martial Master Realm.
Suddenly, there was a faint sound of movement from behind him, and a sense of danger overwhelmed him. Crap! Xiao Chen quickly reacted, circulating the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation quickly. He pushed strongly with his feet as a hot energy spread to his feet, causing his body to leap up into the sky.
His hands clutched a tree branch about 2 meters high. Using it as suspension, he nimbly swung his body and somersaulted, landing lightly on it.
He touched his back and discovered a wound from a sword. The wound was not deep, but it was bleeding quite profusely. Looking at the blood on his hands, Xiao Chen took a deep breath. If he had not avoided it in time, this slash could have split him in twain at the waist.
Xiao Chen looked down, catching sight of the perpetrator, who was a girl that did not seem older than twenty. Her facial appearance was picturesque. Her skin was smooth and fair; she had fine black hair tied into a ponytail that was hanging on her shoulder; and her face was charming like a flower.
With the green clothes she wore, she exhibited the semblance of an otherworldly fairy. However, her eyes were filled with killing intent. They were incredibly cold, and under her gaze, even the air seemed to freeze.
The young girl held a slender sword in her hands, which flashed with a cold light. The body of the sword was emitting a faint moonlight, revealing it to be a Spirit Weapon.
In the Tianwu Continent, there was a peculiar ore, the Moonstone. When blacksmiths forged weapons, as long as they mixed in some Moonstone dust, the quality of the weapon would undergo a qualitative leap, turning it into a Spirit Weapon.
Spirit Weapons were very strong. Aside from the fact that they were very sharp, they could fuse with the strength of the Martial Spirit, which would raise the cultivator’s strength to their peak.
This person seemed to be familiar—Xiao Chen sifted through his memories for a long time before remembering. Seeing that the girl in front of him wanted to make another move, he hurriedly spoke, “Cousin Yulan, please don’t move. I am Xiao Chen, have you forgotten me?”
This was the granddaughter of the First Elder, Xiao Yulan. Going by the family tree, she was a distant cousin on his mother’s side. Xiao Chen was not very familiar with her, recalling that this cousin of his was very reclusive since young. He barely saw her after the age of ten, and all he heard was that she had been in solitary cultivation and seemed to be very mysterious.
Xiao Yulan frowned, as though she was thinking, and then withdrew her sword. She gently parted her lips and said in an apologetic tone, “I’m sorry, Cousin Xiao Chen. What are you doing here?”
After seeing her withdraw her sword, Xiao Chen released his breath. He jumped down from the tree branch, explaining, “I saw that the Spirit Energy in this place was abundant and wanted to cultivate here.”
“In the future, when cousin comes to this kind of place where Spirit Energy is abundant, you must be more cautious. These kinds of places will normally have strong Spirit Beasts protecting them.” Xiao Yulan suddenly stopped, as though she remembered something, and took out a jade bottle and passed it to Xiao Chen.
“This is a superior grade Golden Salve. It is effective on the sword wound on your back. I have been cultivating here for these few days and have chased away many of the Spirit Beasts that wanted to snatch this area away. Cousin can relax and stay here to cultivate, so consider this bottle of Golden Salve my compensation to you. I shall take my leave then.”
Xiao Chen received the Golden Slave and thoughtfully watched the beautiful image of Xiao Yulan leaving. She killed the Two-Tailed Spirit Fox with a slash... this level of cultivation meant she was definitely much stronger than that arrogant Xiao Jian.
Only, why was she not willing to reveal herself? Could it be that she had always been on this Seven Horn Mountain, cultivating and killing all sorts of Spirit Beasts?
Xiao Chen pondered on it carefully for a period of time and came to the conclusion that it was very possible. The expression that Xiao Yulan had when she was looking at him initially was as though she was looking at a Spirit Beast, lacking any emotion. If he had not called out her name all of a sudden, he might have already become a corpse.
It did not matter, as he did not have much time left. The Spiritual Energy in this place was incomparably abundant, so he needed to cultivate first before doing other things. He found a big, sturdy tree and leaped up onto the branches, after which he sat down in the lotus position and circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation to absorb the surrounding Spiritual Energy.