I took several hours of walking until the darkness of the night began shading the forest. Beasts and monsters began their nightly activities, hunting and preying. And some unfortunate and pretty foolish creatures came my way and ended up becoming nourishment for my poison.
It's been a while since I last came here and witnessed the effect of my poison breath at work. The green aura that comes from monsters consumed by my poison breath shines translucently in the night.
Then it comes my way, refilling my Poison Qi.
This only happens when I use my Poison Breath on animals and beasts. Not on humans. Apparently, once my poison interacts with humans it takes in something from them, and then it's unable to transform into this green nourishing energy.
But against beasts, it transforms into an empowering restorative Qi and replenishes my own Poison Qi.
If I had to make a guess, I'll suppose that it has to do with purity, beasts, no matter how vile, they are still a part of nature's law, and their own bodies are perfect gifts given by the heavens. So once my poison interacts with their pure Qi, it transforms into this nourishing energy. As for humans, no, cultivators, it's a different story.
Cultivators take in Qi for themselves, pills, they use Martial arts, and also other means to increase their cultivation level and their lifespan. In a sense, this is 'unnatural, and is against Heaven's Will, as it wishes not for someone to contend with it, either in power, or longevity.
Thus the Qi coming from the cultivators never become this pure restorative energy, because once the Cultivator starts harnessing energy for himself, he leaves the natural law, and becomes something apart from it. Thus, he cannot be turned to this pure restorative power.
After giving my thoughts even more thoughts, I decided that enough time had passed, and there was no way someone else was still nearby waiting for me to make a move.
I pulled my poison god's sword and flew towards the general location of Lucid Springs.
I've been thinking of getting a different type of flying treasure since the Poison God's Great Flying sword is easily identified. But I might as well not bother, once I'm in the Nascent Soul Stage, I should be able to teleport and able of free flight.
So I'll just be using this for now.
I flew through most of the night and until the first light of dawn, it was then when I had to make a stop because I was already in Lucid Springs…or whatever was left of it.
Looking at this very familiar yet unfamiliar location brought me some old memories. I've spent almost seventy years in this very town, and now seeing it like this created an insatiable urge to go on a mass-murdering spree.
My veins began bulging as I tried to stop this unnatural overreaction on my part.
'The hell is going on, I'm not this agitated…I wasn't this angry when even my sons threw me off a cliff, what's happening?!'
I took a few deep breaths and barely was able to suppress this rage episode. This never happened before, and this is starting to annoy me. Am I sick? or is this something that is natural to all cultivators who have such dreary events? I don't know, but this isn't something I can just ignore, I'll have to check this up later on.
Then I took another look at the city.
My manor, which was the main building of this area, a three-story building, was fully demolished with not more than a couple of walls standing by the sheer power of stubbornness.
None of the nearby houses were intact, as most of them had their walls were torn down, blackness from flames that had raged for nights and days.
The very road I spent so much time and effort to pave had cracked so wide that the mere thought of using a carriage to pass through was laughable.
Not a single house had its lights on, not even the houses that were still relatively not fully destroyed were occupied.
Howls of stray dogs filled the night.
As I gazed at this rundown city, I felt pangs of pain that increased every time I saw some of the stuff I made with the help of the people of Lucid Spring destroyed.
Looking at the river's unnaturally high level, I realized that more than a third of the city had already been washed away.
The river had overflown, which shouldn't have been possible unless the dam I made was destroyed.
This means that most of the buildings that relied on the river's power have been destroyed. The watermills, the sawmills, the sand extraction facilities. The stoves and blast furnaces…
My hand began shuddering as I was once again assaulted with this unnatural urge to wreak havoc wherever my eyes landed.
I gripped my chest as my heartbeat unnaturally fast and tried to calm down. Which took a lot of time.
Once calmed down, I used my divine sense. And realized that the city wasn't as empty as I had thought. There actually were still several people living here.
I came down slowly and began walking down the streets of Lucid Springs.
With each step, my lips went down slightly and my frown grew heavier. As I was constantly using divine sense, I was able to notice the few people living in these shady and barley called houses peaking through windows.
Then I heard a voice that was very familiar to me.
"Don't go out! He just looks like him, City Lord Shen Bao is already dead!" came the weak voice of a woman.
"No, I'm sure of it, it has to be him, it's the way he walks, there is no way it's not him!"
"But, that person is young. The city lord was almost eighty years old when we last saw him, aren't you gonna give up your search."
"Without City Lord Shen Bao's help, we wouldn't have had this life."
"Do you call this life? Just sit still and let that person leave, we can't afford more trouble from the Immortals."
I smiled for a bit because as it seems, Wu Fan's wife was still as naggy as ever.
"Come out Wu Fan, or are you going to leave this old man waiting for you longer," I said.
And immediately, the door to the house opened up, revealing a seventy-year-old man, with a gentle smile on his face.
"I knew it, it was you wasn't it! lord Shen Bao!"
"Yes…it's me. I guess a lot had happened when I wasn't here," I said as I looked again at the dreary situation the city was in.
"Ah yes, a lot had happened."
"Are you gonna let this old man out in the cold, where are your manners, you used to invite me for a drink whenever I went past your house."
"Right, I must have been growing senile. Come, come!" Wu Fan said and entered the house, then I followed after him, and after taking one last glance outside, I made my mind up.
'I promise hell untold to you whoever did this. This, I vow."
And then, heaven replied with a thunderous boom under a cloudless summer day.