World of Beasts

by Tinalynge

  Xue Wei was excited beyond belief. He had come to terms with the fact that he would never become a great warrior, yet today the opportunity presented itself, and Xue Wei was eager to grasp it.

  Although Xue Wei wanted to do nothing else than just lock himself in closed-door meditation, he knew that there were other things he needed to deal with first.

  Although Xiao Lei had managed to find a scripture that worked for Xue Wei, the child could not help but be realistic about it. He was right now a mortal, and as a mortal, he could only go around one day without food before his condition would start to deteriorate, and his performance would decrease rapidly.

  Although Xue Wei had read about cultivators who were capable of going for months without food and water, he was painfully aware of his own mortality and knew that to survive he needed at least two meals a day.

  Looking at the desk, Xue Wei found that the items that Xiao Lei had described were there as explained, and he filled his purse with coins and took the deeds into his robes. He did not dare leave the deeds lying on the table so that everyone could come and take them.

  Xue Wei started walking across the mansion and found that although many servants and maids had left, there were still three or four faithful servants remaining, including Xiao Lei's estate manager and two maids.

  Amongst the guards, less than half had quit their jobs. Usually when Xiao Lei went out on a trip, he would fire everyone apart from the manager and tell them that he would rehire them when he returned home, but this time he had asked all of them to serve Xue Wei, following his every command.

  While the guards had accepted this task, most of the servants were incapable of accepting such a loss in status. To go from working for Xiao Lei, the hero of humanity, to work for Xue Wei, the trash of town, was simply too big of a difference and thus after Xiao Lei left, the majority of all servants decided to quit their jobs.

  Xue Wei did not mind it. If anything, he felt sorry for their short-sightedness as he knew that he too would become a cultivator soon, and although it would take time for him to catch up with the other younger-generation geniuses, he had faith in himself and his ceaseless desire to work endlessly.

  Xue Wei had planned to go to town himself to buy provisions for the next long time, but when he saw that a few people had remained in the mansion, he smiled and started to feel the benefits of having people to help him out.

  "Manager Su, please wait," Xue Wei called out as he saw the manager walking across a corridor in front of him, and the manager raised an eyebrow and looked at Xue Wei.

  Although the manager did not like Xue Wei, he did not loathe him either, and since his master, Xiao Lei, had ordered him to look after this young nephew, he would do so within his might.

  "Young master, what can I do for you?" Manager Su asked with his dreary voice, and his eyes looking quite surprised. Xue Wei usually never spoke to anyone else other than Xiao Lei. Even Shen Mu had to use quite a lot of tricks to get an answer from this young man, and those two were considered best friends.

  "Manager Su, I know that uncle have left for some time. I am going to seclude myself with some books I have gained," Xue Wei said casually, "please use this gold to ensure that I have three meals placed in front of my door every day. When I finish reading these books and fully understand them, I will come out, but until then, please let no one interrupt me."

  The old manager Su had followed Xiao Lei for a long time, and he was rather smart. He was also a Sky Warrior, someone who was considered a strong expert within Tiankong City; he was even considered a strong expert within the entire Kingdom of Heping.

  Manager Su could instantly tell that something was not as Xue Wei had explained, but he saw no reason to question him, and instead, he accepted the purse that Xue Wei handed him and weighed it in his hand. It was clearly filled to the brim with coins, and this many coins could easily allow for the mansion to run for a long time.

  Manager Su's only task was to look after the mansion. He cared not for whatever Xue Wei was doing, or if he was there or not, and in fact, he was relieved when he heard that the young man would seclude himself in his room. That way he would cause no problems.

  Having handed the coins to Manager Su, Xue Wei had no reason to wait with his cultivation anymore and rushed back to his room where he locked the door, sat on the floor with his legs crossed and took a deep breath to calm himself.

  Xue Wei was fully aware that cultivation was not easy. He had tried so many times but failed every time.

  It was not that he could not sense the Qi in the surrounding air, nor was it a problem to drag it into his body, but as soon as it came to stay within his body, it failed and leaked out like the air of a broken balloon.

  Xue Wei steadied himself and slowly closed his eyes. He sensed the Qi that was everywhere around him, and he gathered a wisp of energy which he sucked into his body.

  He recalled the path that the Qi had to flow through his body and he led it through every single step before he reached his dantian.

  Xue Wei frowned. His dantian was supposed to be a cave-like existence within his body around his abdomen, but instead, he saw a small white pearl.

  This pearl was clearly located where his dantian was supposed to be, and when the Qi reached the pearl, it was dragged inside, and the white pearl started shining slightly.

  Xue Wei felt his body strengthening. From that one single wisp of energy, he could feel his entire body transforming, and he gaped.

  "My dantian is quite different," he mumbled to himself, "but it is able to contain energy! I am finally on the way to become a true cultivator!" Xue Wei's eyes gleamed with excitement. His breathing was ragged and his palms sweaty.

  He had been so worried that he would not be able to cultivate this time either, but he had succeeded finally! Although it was only a single wisp of energy, Xue Wei felt better than he had ever felt before and he was sure that his strength and speed had already increased.

  "When I was younger, uncle examined my body and said that I did not have terrible talent but a special dantian. I wonder if this is what he meant." Back then, Xue Wei had not fully believed him, because when he had searched within himself, the dantian had looked exactly like any other dantian was described, like a small cave within his abdomen.

  However, today was different. As to when it had changed, Xue Wei did not know. He had not been looking at his dantian often because he had been depressed every time he did, but now he was surprised to find it had transformed into a small pearl.

  Xue Wei did not think more about it. Instead, he just grinned. His uncle was the most reliable Primordial Beast Hunter in the Heping Kingdom, and now Xue Wei was able to follow his footsteps.

  Xue Wei started cultivating from scratch. He had absorbed one wisp of energy, and it had been a success. Xue Wei was not going to give up, and he grinned as he slowly calmed himself. It was time for him to fully focus on cultivating.

  Xue Wei was now fifteen years old. He would have one year before it was time for him to go to the battlefield, and he understood that if he did not manage to reach a high enough rank on his own, his life would be endangered.

  If he lost his life, then he would not be able to live out his dream. Xue Wei turned serious and consumed one wisp of energy after another. He made sure to be careful with every single wisp and ensure that it followed the path perfectly, to purify it enough so that when it reached the dantian, it was of the highest quality.

  Day after day went by where Xue Wei was locked within his room. The remaining maids were curious as to what exactly was going on with their useless young master.

  He would have lived in the library every single day, but now he did not even leave his room, and while most of them were curious. Manager Su went to his room once with a meal to check out the situation for himself, and he was surprised when he sensed how the Qi in the air was being sucked into the room and vanished.

  A smile spread across his lips, and laughter ran through the mansion that day. Manager Su w
as happy that he had never treated Xue Wei badly before, and now he knew that a dragon like Xiao Lei did not have a dog nephew.

  The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. Shen Mu came a few times to visit, but the manager turned him away both times, saying that Xue Wei was busy examining an ancient script that took all his attention.

  In Tiankong City, it was not only Shen Mu who thought that something was strange. All the young masters and young misses were starting to wonder if they had beaten Xue Wei too badly, and that he no longer dared venture outside.

  Li Jian was especially in a bad mood because of Xue Wei's sudden disappearance. "Now that your uncle is gone, there is nothing to stop me from crippling you!" Li Jian sneered to himself, and he had great plans, but he never came into contact with Xue Wei. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

  It was not before three months had passed that Xue Wei left the confinement of his room. He had managed to break into the third layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, and although he was far from being as strong as the geniuses of the younger generation, the speed with which he was progressing was many times faster. If they had had three months when they first started to cultivate, they would have made it to the first layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, but Xue Wei had climbed all the way to the third layer.

  The first person that Xue Wei saw after exiting his room was Manager Su who was looking at him with a knowing smirk.

  "Welcome back to the outside world, young master," he said, and this time the way he said young master was filled with a tinge of respect compared to before.

  "You have managed to become a warrior! What an accomplishment. I am sure that your uncle would be proud of you by now," he said with his dreary voice, and Xue Wei flashed one of his very rare smiles as he nodded his head.

  For once, Xue Wei was truly happy, but then he frowned. Xue Wei was aware that he needed more than just Qi if he wanted to survive in this world. He had to get his hands on some martial art skills, but to get those he had to enter town.

  Xue Wei frowned as he was reminded of what his uncle had said. That his ring was filled with secrets.

  Chapter 7 - Azure Light Finger

  This ring was said to be filled with secrets. However, how to unlock it was the real question.

  Xue Wei was unsure, so he excused himself and went back to his room where he sat down on the bed and examined the ring from all angles.

  It was a dragon that coiled itself around his finger, the eyes were two blue sapphires, and it looked very domineering.

  No matter how Xue Wei looked at it, it looked like an ordinary ring, and no matter how much he attempted to stare at it, nothing happened.

  "Uncle said that I needed strength to be able to unlock the secrets of the ring."

  "Strength... Qi... Of course!" Xue Wei had an epiphany. "To unlock the secrets of the ring, I need to infuse it with Qi!"

  Xue Wei did not waste his time and immediately infused his Qi into it. The moment he did, a brilliant light lit up the room.

  As the light shone, the ring turned hot. Although it was scalding, no mark was left on Xue Wei's finger, and he was not in any kind of pain.

  As he felt the heat, it grew stronger and stronger until it finally cooled off and Xue Wei saw how something was projected into the air in front of him.

  As he looked at the projection, an excited smile appeared on Xue Wei's lips. These were all martial arts, and they were all of the superior grade – one of them was even profound grade!

  Martial arts were split into ranks; the higher the rank, the stronger it was. The ranks went from low, middle, high, superior to profound ranked.

  The higher the rank, the harder it was to train, but the more powerful it was as well. It was said that there were ranks above profound, but no commoners ever got into contact with these abilities.

  To think that Xiao Lei had prepared so many superior and even a profound ability for Xue Wei made him feel surprised but also very happy. Although he was at a lower realm, if he managed to perfect these martial arts, then he would be able to fight the other geniuses in town.

  Xue Wei did not want to lose even a moment, and his eyes roamed across the abilities in front of him.

  "Azure Light Finger, a superior martial technique which allows for the finger to grow hard as iron and release ranged Qi attacks. Can be used in both close quarters combat and ranged combat."

  "Shattering Mountain Fist, a superior martial technique which allows for the user to use their fist to shatter mountains. Can only be used in close-quarters combat."

  "Sacrificial stab, a superior martial technique that can only be used while wielding a bladed weapon. A cheap but effective killing move! Can only be used in close quarters combat. Sacrifices the soul of the wounded to the ancient gods."

  "Inner Might, a profound martial technique that allows the user to shape the Qi within the body to any weapon of their choice. Can be used in both close quarters combat and ranged attacks."

  “Forbidden Rush, a superior martial technique that allows the user to increase their speed and merge with the wind. A support technique.”

  Having looked at quite a lot of the skills, Xue Wei had picked out those five to learn first. Although quite a lot of abilities were present in front of him, Xue Wei understood that if he bit off more than he could chew, then he would just not learn any of them entirely. Even five was pushing it.

  He could no longer stay in his room to practice, or he would destroy all of the furniture if he tried. Considering for some time, he thought about the grounds at the back of the mansion where he had seen his uncle train from time to time, but he was unsure if it was okay for him to go there to train.

  Leaving the room, Xue Wei went to look for Manager Su to ask for permission, and on the way he came across two maids who were cleaning together.

  These two maids were both young women, and although they loathed Xue Wei, they had stayed because they had a dream of one day becoming Xiao Lei's concubines. By staying, they could get into his good graces.

  These two women saw Xue Wei walking past them, but they both frowned. Although Xue Wei was never cowering or hiding away, he seemed different now. He had an aura that made these two maids breathless, given that he now exuded a heroic air around him that was very different from what they were used to.

  He seemed like a refined scholar who had understood martial arts, and although these two women loathed him for being useless trash, they could not help but gasp at the changes that were happening to him.

  They both stared at him as he walked past them and down the corridor. It was not before a long time after that one of the maids regained her composure, and she nudged the maid by her side.

  "That was the young master?" she asked, stunned, unable to comprehend what she had just seen. She did not even realize that she had referred to him as the young master and not ‘the useless trash’.

  Xue Wei did not care about what they said or how they reacted, all that mattered to him was finding Manager Su.

  He found him in the back garden where he was ordering a group of guards around, and when the manager saw Xue Wei again, a smile appeared on his lips.

  "What can I do for you, young master?" he asked. He had previously seen that Xue Wei had left his room for a short while but reentered it, and he had expected that the young man would seclude himself for an extensive period of time, not that he would emerge from his room this fast.

  "Manager Su, I am looking for somewhere to train some martial arts," Xue Wei did not beat around the bush and said so right away. He knew that Manager Su was an esteemed expert and that he had long since sensed the changes in Xue Wei, so hiding it seemed pointless.

  The guards who were present were also all Earth Warriors, the rank above Ordinary Warriors, and they could also sense Xue Wei's cultivation base if they wanted to.

  The guards looked at Xue Wei in surprise, and all of them quickly noticed the great changes that had happened to their young master.

 
; Some were perplexed, others were disbelieving, but most of them were relieved.

  They were working for Xiao Lei, but right now they had to take orders from Xue Wei. He was previously known as trash, but to reach the third layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank within three months was an amazing feat that only the proud sons and daughters of the heavens would be able to pull off.

  "You can use your uncle's training ground I am sure," Manager Su said like a gentle old grandfather, and he nodded his head to the guards, "excuse me," he said and led Xue Wei towards the training grounds that were exclusive for Xiao Lei.

  The private training ground was a lot smaller than the training ground for the guards. It had dummies made from black gold, which had the ability to restore themselves when broken.

  Looking at these dummies, Xue Wei's usually expressionless face turned bright, and he nodded his head in approval.