World of Beasts

by Tinalynge

  "Little Mu, little Wei, what can I do for you?" Shen Bingwen asked with a sigh as he raised his head from the papers he had been reading, and he looked at the two of them. "Have you been bullied again?" Shen Bingwen asked as this was the only reason that came to mind for their sudden appearance. Now that Xiao Lei was no longer here to look after Xue Wei, it was obvious that they'd go to the grown-up they trusted the most, and that was Shen Bingwen.

  He internally sighed as he did not wish to be the one in charge of this, but when his eyes landed on Xue Wei, a peculiar light shone within, and he instantly stood up, his chair knocked away, and his mouth was wide open, his eyes almost popping out from their sockets.

  "Ordinary Warrior, peak fourth layer!" he exclaimed with a trembling finger that pointed at Xue Wei.

  He was even more shocked than Shen Mu when he noticed the change in Xue Wei.

  The reason he was even more shocked than his son was because that he knew that becoming a fourth layer Ordinary Warrior in four months was simply impossible.

  Many of the experts in Tiankong city had started cultivating before the age of ten, but those who had started around the age of nine had managed to reach the ranks of the seventh, eighth and ninth layer.

  To see a child who was regarded as trash suddenly reach this stage that should have taken years of time in four months, how could he not be shocked?

  Seeing the expression on Shen Mu's face, Xue Wei wracked his brain for an excuse as to why he suddenly became as strong as he was.

  Xue Wei was not dumb; he knew that his advance was simply too fast to be considered humanly possible, and even he had a hard time understanding how he had managed to get as far as he had in such a short amount of time.

  "My uncle said that all the training I had done when I was trash had gathered in my body and was like a waterfall waiting to overflow. When I finally broke a hole in the barrier, allowing me to cultivate, my advance would be many times faster than others because the Qi has been hiding within my body."

  Xue Wei was just saying whatever he thought made sense, but the face of Shen Mu and Shen Bingwen turned better after hearing what he had to say.

  "Xiao Lei said that?" Shen Bingwen asked, but before Xue Wei had the time to answer, the man was nodding his head. "That makes sense," he repeated to himself twice.

  "But does that not mean that you will catch up with the other geniuses fairly soon?" Shen Bingwen asked after a bit of consideration, and Xue Wei nodded his head, "I should," he said with a bit of uncertainty. Although he had managed to cultivate incredibly fast up until now, it was not certain that he could continue cultivating faster than humanly possible.

  Seeing the uncertainty on Xue Wei's face, Shen Bingwen sighed again. "Your uncle should have told us. If we knew it was only a matter of time before you shed your title as a good-for-nothing, then I am sure that others would have treated you better. I cannot understand why your uncle would let you go through this pain if it could be avoided."

  Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders. He could not very well say that this was just some excuse he had come up with, and thus he looked apologetic and answered, "I apologize for our selfishness, but now that it is revealed, there is no reason to keep it a secret anymore." Seeing that the two others were not willing to let the subject go, Xue Wei smiled and changed the subject away from his own sudden rise in strength.

  "Let us do the paperwork and have me signed up for the army alongside all the other youths from this city."

  Seeing the way he smoothly changed the subject, Shen Bingwen understood that there was no reason to ask questions. It was highly likely that Xue Wei would just avoid them, and since this was the case, they might as well just change the subject to signing up Xue Wei for the war.

  Xue Wei had always been a smart child. During all the time he had lived in Tiankong City, he would have spent all the time on reading books and following Xiao Lei around; his intelligence was high compared to other children his age, and his knowledge surpassed even that of adults due to him having been reading day in and day out.

  Although he was a smart child, he was also very obedient to Xiao Lei. He would do anything to make his uncle happy. Since he was incapable of making his uncle proud of him when it came to cultivation, he often made food for his uncle instead, such as snacks, lunch-boxes and so on.

  When it came to other people, Xue Wei was incredibly cold. He was considered friends with Shen Mu, yet Shen Mu knew absolutely nothing about Xue Wei, and Xue Wei never treated the other with any real friendliness.

  Shen Bingwen sighed. It was not surprising that Xue Wei was cold to anyone other than his uncle considering how he had been treated, but now more than ever was he happy that his son had done what he could to be at least considered a friend. It turned out that although this child's current achievements were low, his future achievements might not be so shabby.

  "Okay, I will sign you up for the army. You will be in the same battalion as little Mu. He will help look after you." Finding a stack of papers from a shelf behind him, Shen Bingwen wrote on one piece and filled in the forms. It took him around the time it takes for an incense stick to burn down before he finished.

  "Drop some blood on here," he ordered, and Xue Wei did what he had been told. Cutting a finger with a nail, he allowed for a drop of blood to fall on the paper. A golden gleam appeared from the paper before it turned slightly azure. The azure light lasted for merely a moment, and one could argue whether or not it had even been there, but as the azure light vanished, the paper returned to normal.

  Shen Bingwen looked with surprise at the paper. “How surprising!” he exclaimed. “I have never before seen an azure gleam, but the golden one means that the contract has been sealed. If you do not show up at the army office at the summer months of your 16th year of birth, then you will die.”

  "Okay, the formalities have been completed. In a little more than a year, the two of you will be heading to the front lines alongside the others of the same age from our Tiankong City."

  Xue Wei nodded his head. He was secretly very proud of what he heard. He would be going to the front lines! He would be fighting against the beasts, and he would be able to bring back glory for his uncle!

  On the outside, however, one could not even begin to guess the emotions that were ricocheting about inside Xue Wei. Since he had been beaten and bullied time and time again, he had learned to completely shut off his emotions, to not let anyone see how he truly felt.

  The only time he would be himself was when he was with his uncle. There he would cry and laugh and play like the child he had been.

  "Well, there is no reason for us to stay here any longer," Shen Mu said laughingly. "Why don't we go to town and look at some plants and skills? I heard that a new merchant has arrived who even brought with him high-ranked martial art skills!"

  Xue Wei had quite a lot of money at his disposal and there were a few things that he needed. Although he had gotten enough skills from the ring that his uncle had left him, he could still use medicinal herbs to increase his cultivation speed.

  Although he felt that he had come far in the time he had locked himself up, he also understood that the reason he had managed to get that far was exactly because of the amazing scripture he had been given.

  But a scripture could only do so much. He needed to work hard to be able to continue his cultivation at his current speed, and medicinal herbs were exactly what he needed. Fortunately, he had a great understanding of medicinal herbs from the time before he lost his memory and thus he was quite certain of his own ability to find what he needed.

  He knew that some of the cheaper herbs, if used together, could make for great herbal baths that would help strengthen the body and increase the amount of Qi he could absorb.

  Usually, he would not have followed Shen Mu to town, as he knew that if he ran into someone, then he would get beaten up, but things were different now.

  Although he was not as strong as the Young Master Li and the geniuses of the town, he was
no longer trash, and he had been able to increase his cultivation fast. Secretly, he hoped that they would become friendly towards him, but he also understood that that possibility was not very big.

  Still, he was no longer trash, so they had no reason to attack him, and even if they did, he had a superior martial art. By now, he had learned one of the attacks and had touched upon the Forbidden Rush, something which allowed for him to move as fast as the wind and avoid many of the attacks.

  Speed-enhancing and evasion techniques such as the Forbidden Rush were incredibly hard to obtain, and not many within Tiankong City had one, making it possible for Xue Wei to feel some sort of safety. Even if he could not win a fight, he could escape, even though he had only just touched upon the beginning of the Forbidden Rush.

  Chapter 10 - King of the Mountain

  Shen Mu, who was walking by Xue Wei's side, was used to the young man being quiet, and he did not mind it. He was, however, quite surprised that Xue Wei had accepted to come to town with him since he had avoided the city center due to the others bullying him.

  Although Xue Wei did not speak, there was a bright light in his eyes, and Shen Mu knew that he was simply too excited about being able to cultivate. He was also aware that Xue Wei was hoping that the others would accept him now, but he was more realistic about their reactions.

  If he had just reached the first layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, then they would not have minded, but Xue Wei was now at the peak of the fourth layer! In a mere four months, he had started to rush down the path of a cultivator with a speed so shocking that none of the others could compete against it.

  Those who had hated him for being a piece of trash were likely to hate him for having too much talent, and no matter how he looked at it, Xue Wei was going to get beaten up. He was only a fourth layer expert, so how could he possibly withstand the ninth layer geniuses of the town as things were now?

  The sad thing was that many of them did not hate him because he was trash, being trash was just convenient for them to bully him and gave them a legitimate reason to beat him up. The truth was that all of them were jealous of him being Xiao Lei’s nephew.

  Sighing, Shen Mu shook his head with a small self-mocking grin on his face. Although he was the one who had suggested they went to town, he never expected that it would happen and now he could only curse himself. If Xue Wei were to enter a fight, then he would have to stick up for him, and in the end, it was likely that he too would be drawn into a beating.

  Shen Mu would never let his friend fight alone, and he knew that although he was the strongest expert in town, he was not the only expert, and Li Jian had gathered a whole group of followers who would beat anyone and anything that stood in the way of bullying Xue Wei.

  Truthfully, while Shen Mu did not dislike Xue Wei, and he was genuinely shocked by the performance this young man had shown with his sudden explosive talent, he did not consider Xue Wei one of his good friends either.

  Xue Wei was simply too hard to get close to. He was never one to talk much; he kept everything he felt on the inside, and his eyes would always burn with defiance.

  This was also another reason why they had beaten him time and time again. One thing was that he was a piece of trash, another thing was that he refused to bow and grovel on the ground in front of them. His eyes were always shining with an unyielding spirit, and Xue Wei was without a doubt the smartest youth in the entire city.

  Although he was incapable of cultivating inner Qi, when it came to his mental age, it was many times more developed than any youth his age, and his knowledge even surpassed that of some elders.

  This was yet another reason that the young members of the city all hated Xue Wei. He could not cultivate, but he could do just about anything else, and this agitated them. They wanted to prove that he was truly worth nothing compared to them.

  But now Xue Wei had managed to get a cultivation base; he no longer wished to stay an ordinary youth with high intelligence.

  Xue Wei had always dreamt of making his uncle proud of him and to do so he needed to be one of the strongest experts. He wished to slaughter Primordial Beasts like his uncle and gain recognition.

  His eyes shone with excitement as he thought about it, and he sped up slightly as he moved towards one of the shops selling medicinal plants and pills.

  Shen Mu, who was completely in the dark about what Xue Wei had been thinking about, just followed behind. He had already accepted that whatever would happen would happen and that he could not stop it no matter what.

  When he saw Xue Wei speed up, he was certain that the reason he did so was because he did not want to be caught by the others, not because he was eager to find the herbs he needed.

  Shen Mu agreed with Xue Wei on making their trip to the city markets as fast as possible, so he said nothing and just sped up as well.

  Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished. Li Jian and his followers had not seen Xue Wei in four months, and although Xue Wei did not often leave the mansion, he would at least enter the markets around once a month.

  Now it had been four months since last, and Li Jian was missing his favorite hobby of bullying Xue Wei. He had even started worrying that Xue Wei would never enter the marketplaces again and thus he had paid beggars and other commoners to keep an eye out for Xue Wei.

  Whoever managed to bring news to Li Jian about Xue Wei entering the marketplaces could go and collect a silver coin from Li Jian, and a silver coin could feed a family of four for three weeks.

  The offer was simply too tempting for anyone to care about the possibilities of revenge from Xiao Lei who was not even present in the city, and as soon as they saw Xue Wei, a few commoners vanished from the street as stealthily as shadows as they moved towards the Li residence.

  The first commoner that made it to the Li residence found the Young Master Li at the family's training ground where he was practicing.

  "Young Master! Young Master!" someone called out, and Young Master Li scowled as he was interrupted in his training of a martial art skill. He turned around to look at the person who appeared in front of him, his scowl turning to excitement. He knew that there would only be one reason for a commoner to arrive in front of him at this time.

  "I will go to town instantly!" he exclaimed and waved his hand, causing a whole group of experts to stop their training and follow behind him.

  Many of those experts were from minor noble families, whose families were beneath the Li family, and others were just opportunists who figured that following Young Master Li around would be beneficial to them in the future.

  This entire entourage moved towards the city marketplace where Xue Wei was. Oblivious to this coming threat, Xue Wei had entered the first shop he saw to spend some of the gold he had brought with him.

  The shop was covered in a dim light within the room, dust could be seen floating in the air, and a scent of herbs assaulted their noses as they narrowed their eyes, slowly getting used to the light.

  Xue Wei was easily able to see the different herbs and took a deep breath. For some reason, he felt emotional having entered the shop, but no matter how much he scoured his memories, it was impossible for him to figure out why an apothecary shop was something nostalgic for him.

  Without caring too much about it, Xue Wei shook his head and headed to the counter.

  The man behind the counter looked at Xue Wei with surprise. Everyone knew Xue Wei within the city and to see him in a shop was truly rare. Especially seeing him with such a casual expression as the one he wore right now. It seemed as though nothing could faze him; even if another expert appeared out of the blue, Xue Wei gave off the impression that he would not bat an eyelid.

  Still, this apothecary wanted Xue Wei to leave the shop as soon as possible. The longer he was in the shop, the more danger his shop was in. Every genius in town, except Shen Mu, hated him and a battle was bound to happen if they were to spot him.

  "I need five pieces of ten-year-old Blood Ginseng and seven stalks of forty-y
ear-old Corpse Grass. I also need three Solar Flowers that are around thirty years old and finally one beast core of the Earth Warrior rank, the first layer is enough."

  The apothecary was shocked when he heard the items that Xue Wei wanted to buy. Some of them were even poisonous! But all of them were easy to get their hands on; the rarest item was the beast core, but even that was somewhat easy to purchase.

  Without even moving, the clerk did the math. When he was done, he looked at Xue Wei as if he had seen an idiot.

  "That is a total of one gold, eighty-seven silver, and five copper coins," the clerk said with a doubtful expression on his face. Yes, Xue Wei was a young master, but did he really have the gold to pay this?

  Although the items were easy to find, the Fierce Beast core was different. Everything that came from beasts was incredibly expensive, and especially their beast cores. Even the ordinary noble-born would not buy Fierce Beast items.