Several hours later, when the dim moonlight was all that shone from the cave entrance woke me up, a cool breeze, far warmer than the cave's earlier temperature rose me from my unconsciousness.
I got up, surprisingly agilely for my age. The old bones on me didn't rattle as much as they used to. And the random and awkward soreness had disappeared. The pustules on me had softened up, they didn't disappear though but they became less apparent.
I combed my hand over my head, and there were traces of hair there. That shouldn't be possible, the poison pool had melted all of my hair off, but now I have some of it back. The green energy of the Yeti's corpse revitalized my old self and gave me a new lease on life.
Within me was newfound energy coursing along with the poison Qi. They became harmonious and aided each other as they circulated the newly unlocked meridians I achieved a Medium Middle layer of Qi condensation while I was asleep. Sadly, due to my lack of focus, I must have lost a great deal of that power, so if I was cultivating that energy instead of being unconscious, I could have achieved the Peak Middle Layer of Qi condensation. Nevertheless, all progress is good, small or little.
I moved away from the cave that I had nothing to do with anymore after picking up the Yeti's Demonic core, which was purple instead of crimson red, then I had to climb down the mountain which was much faster and easier than climbing it. I did not need to find my way back to anything because I had no place to be right now so my only goal right now was to randomly walk the forest and see where it will take me.
I roamed about and continued walking, indefinitely and unknowing of my destination. The journey took me several days before I encountered the first people, and they were not a fun company.
Five men showed up in front of me, weapons drawn and they had murder in their eyes.
"Old man, State your name and what are you doing here? This is the territory of our Purple Cloud Sect." the first of the bunch addressed me.
He was a tall man with a long beard that reached up to his chest. His clothes were purple, probably in relation to their sect's name. The group behind him wore the same outfit only theirs had a far lighter color tone.
"My name is Shen Bao, I mean no trouble to your sect I'm lost here and was trying to find my way out."
"Lies! How could you survive this place if you were merely lost? Also, you're barely at Qi condensation middle layer."
"I guess I was lucky?" I replied.
"Luck? Nonsense! We have reports of people from the Sword Spirit Mountain coming here and causing trouble."
'Oh, that must be the two guys I met earlier.'
"I have no relation to this Sword Spirit Mountain you're talking about."
"Then you have no problem with us searching you?" the man said as he pointed his sword at me.
I took a deep breath, if I were to be searched by these men, they will discover the token that kid had given me, and honestly, that's the least of my worries. I also have several demonic cores that will raise questions if they find them. Not to mention the book.
Fighting was out of the question, I'm not capable of beating these five. And running, that's not even an option.
Suddenly I felt energy suppressing me and pinning me where I stood. One of the men came to men he had a disgusted look at me when he saw my body but he still did as needed and patted me like a cop would frisk a suspect.
"He has nothing on him elder brother."
"Really? Check again, no man can travel this forest without at least some food or tools to defend themselves."
The man did as he was told, and even got more aggressive with the patting. Surprisingly, for him and me, he didn't find anything. This was both a blessing and something to worry about. Where were all the items I harvested? The demon cores and the pouches from the cultivators and the book? Questions to be answered later. For now, the cultivator removed the pressure and allowed me to speak.
"Many thanks, fellow cultivator. And to answer your questions, I've already lost my traveling bag a while ago when I was being hunted by a terrifying leopard."
"Terrifying leopard, you're talking about the Silver Claw demon beast?"
"Well, probably, but I didn't wait around to check the color of his claws, the moment I saw it, I dipped into a small hole and hid there for days. He tore my bag and got all my food. Then I moved about for a long time trying to get by, I got to eat some mushrooms along the way, to fight off the hunger."
"Then your current appearance?" the man said.
"Definitely one of the things I ate, I wasn't like this when I first entered the forest," I replied. (which was true by the way)
The men looked awkwardly at each other for a few moments before the bearded leader said, "Then you'll come with us, we'll need to ask you a few more questions back at our sect."
I took another gulp, this was both good and bad, after all, in those novels I've read, when someone says this exact sentence it usually means torture. But I'm in dire need to enter a sect and know more about this world.
"Right, I'm more than willing to go with you, but I'll have to trouble you sirs, I'm old and have no means to move. A few of you have swords that you could fly on, and my weak cultivation level is not enough to allow me to accompany you. Wouldn't it be troublesome for you to keep pace just for my sake?"
"No need to worry about that, Duan Lin, pick him up." The man with the beard said, and the young man who had patted me before came next to me, and pulled out a massive sword from his pouch."
"Stand on it," he said.
And just as I did, the sword rose, and with me above it, it was surprisingly easy to balance myself on it, which was probably thanks to Duan Lin controlling the sword effectively to help me stand without falling.
"Let's go!" the bearded man said and the group flew forward, me alongside them.
The journey continued for several hours, lasting almost an entire day from the fall of the sun to its rise in the next morning and long afternoon. This made me wonder, the group claimed that the forest I was in was their property, so for such a large forest, and for such a long journey we crossed, the purple cloud sect is definitely a big one.
Also, I am part thankful for the arrival of this group of people. They were not bad people, at least from what I saw, they handed me food and continuously asked if I was exhausted or tired so they could take a rest. If this is how they treat prisoners then I had a good chance of seeing some fairness in their judgment.
Soon, Duan Lin, the man that was controlling the sword I was on spoke.
"We arrived."
Looking ahead, I saw a great Tori Gate in the distance with the words, Purple Cloud sect. and behind it was what seemed to be a garden that extended far beyond what the eye could see, and even farther ahead were several mountains making the sect's inner setup.
This cloud sect is looking promising.
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