by Tinalynge
Hearing this, Li Jian was somewhat disappointed. "You sounded as if you would help me, but you are telling me to wait a couple of months?! And that you cannot even act on your own? Then what use are you?!"
"I need to be certain that Xue Wei dies! He has to be completely dead – and preferably suffer before he dies!"
"I know," the woman laughed slightly. "I promise that only one of you will survive the trip. I can give you my word, in which I will step in and do the deed myself if my plan does not work."
"But you should want my help to be as subtle as possible," the woman said with a mysterious smile on her face. "If I act, then more chaos will ensue; and I can promise you that your father will realize that you have made a deal with me if Xue Wei drops dead all of a sudden with no explanation."
Li Jian frowned, but after considering it for some time, he nodded his head. Although he wanted his vengeance, he did not want to get crippled or expelled from the family. If she could use some other means to get rid of Xue Wei, then all he had to do was wait a few months to see what would happen.
"Well then, thank you for your cooperation," the woman laughed again. Her voice became distant as she spoke, her figure vanishing into the shadows. It was as if she had melted into the shadows and the last thing that Li Jian heard was the pearl-like laughter of the woman who had vanished entirely.
Like this, rumors started to spread through Tiankong City of a mysterious stranger visiting the Li family mansion at night. However, no one knew anything about the purpose of this visit, so assumptions were as many as stars in the sky.
Some thought that Li Fang had found a backer that would assist him to become the new City Lord.
Others thought that it was a master thief that had come to steal everything the Li family had gathered over the years.
A group of people thought that it was an expert that had decided to settle down in the Li family mansion without telling Li Fang, causing him to yell the way he had when he noticed the expert.
There were many rumors, but neither Shen Bingwen nor Li Fang said the truth to anyone, causing the rumors to be just that, rumors.
The only ones who knew what had happened were the two Heavenly Warriors, and after a bit of time, Manager Su and Xue Wei.
At first, neither Shen Bingwen nor Li Fang had planned on telling Manager Su or Xue Wei about what had happened. But after careful consideration, they agreed on it being for the best to tell these two about it, as it seemed as though Li Jian was a potential target for the strange voice.
Where Manager Su's eyes turned dark, Xue Wei was completely carefree. He understood that if this powerful expert was truly aiming for his life, he had no way of protecting it. If the expert could sneak into the Li mansion without even Li Fang's notice, that person was stronger than Manager Su, Shen Bingwen, and Li Fang.
Even if they went together against the enemy, no one was able to say who would emerge victoriously.
Xue Wei knew too little about the realms above Heavenly Warrior rank, but he could imagine that it was a completely different realm; a realm where strength would multiply many times and thus the Heavenly Warriors could not bar this expert if their choice was to kill him.
On the other hand, he could not help but feel strange. Why would such an esteemed expert try to contact Li Jian and the Li family, trying to tempt them? It made no sense.
Did the Li family have something unusual that the esteemed expert wanted, or did the expert just want to see chaos and disaster wherever it passed? Tempting commoners and trying to make them fall to their heart demons?
Xue Wei shook his head. He was not going to spend his time wondering about something he had no power to change. Instead, he decided to spend the time cultivating, spending as much time as he could to increase his combat power and getting familiar with his techniques.
Although he was decent with his techniques, he was still far from being able to grasp the true meaning behind them fully. As a result, he needed to train more to gain a thorough understanding of the abilities.
He followed the same pattern as before. He would spend five days to a week absorbing the herbal concoction followed by a week of training his abilities and normal cultivation. He could feel how his body was growing stronger for every single day that passed, and that he was gaining more and more Qi within his pearl-like dantian that started to shine with a stronger azure shine.
Soon, the time had come for Xue Wei to depart for the army. The last couple of months had passed fast to him, and he had not encountered any problems. Li Jian and his friends were doing their best to avoid him whenever they were in town.
No one wished to be crippled, and he had already crippled two of them when he was weaker. Since then, he had grown much stronger, so strong that everyone assumed that he was the strongest within the Ordinary Warrior rank within Tiankong City.
A few weeks before the departure, Xue Wei had finally broken through into the ninth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank. Although he was only in the initial stages, he was certain in his strength.
In Tiankong City, there were no strength measuring stones, so Xue Wei did not know how much his power surpassed the strength of an average ninth layered Ordinary Warrior; yet when he was lifting things that he knew the weight of, he felt that he could lift at least five hundred kilograms more than he should, which is a significant amount.
Clenching his fist, Xue Wei felt how he had managed to perfect the Forbidden Rush for his level.
There was only so much he could comprehend while being at the Ordinary Warrior rank, but to have comprehended as much as he could, Xue Wei was able to flutter in the wind while being weightless. He could jump around two hundred meters in the air, but it was still impossible for him to be able to fly or walk on air.
The closest he could get would be to merge with the wind and allow the wind to blow him around, but this was not very convenient as he could not control his destination this way.
Xue Wei was deep in thought about the Forbidden Rush technique when Manager Su appeared behind him and cleared his throat. "Young Master," he said, "it is time for you to depart."
"Here is a bag. It contains a canteen, some rations, gold, clothes, and so on. It should be enough for you on your way to the army. When you are in the army, you will be given some clothes, armor, and be fed by the army dining hall."
Manager Su had taken great care to pack the large bag for Xue Wei. He had packed everything that he thought Xue Wei might need, and he had packed a whole lot of gold, enough gold to make it possible for Xue Wei to live comfortably for a few decades, even when using the herbal concoction.
The bag was heavy, but to someone like Xue Wei who was a ninth layered Ordinary Warrior, it was simple to bear.
"Well then, Manager Su, look well after the mansion until I return," he said with a smile on his face, and Manager Su nodded his head seriously.
"Be careful," he warned. "We don't know what Li Jian is up to. Hopefully, he listened to his father and did not do anything silly, but who knows."
"You will be in the army for a decade. After this decade, you will be able to return to Tiankong City. I believe that you will have become a great figure by then."
"Of course, you can also choose to stay in the army and make a career for yourself, or you can be like your uncle, Xiao Lei, and become a Primordial Beast Hunter."
"I will come back as soon as I finish my military service," Xue Wei promised. "I will become a Primordial Beast Hunter like my uncle, and kill many Primordial Beasts to make him proud."
"Well then, take care," Manager Su said nothing more than this and smiled as he nodded his head. "I will always be waiting here for you and your uncle."
At the start, Manager Su had not disliked Xue Wei, but he had not liked him either. Now, things had changed, and Manager Su felt almost as if it was his grandchild that was leaving to explore the vast world of the Heping army.
He would be fighting against hordes of Fierce Beasts; he could even encounter Primordial Beasts.
He would be in danger repeatedly, but no matter how worried Manager Su was, he said nothing about it. He felt that Xue Wei needed to do his best and step out onto a broader stage.
He had already become a genius of Tiankong City. Although Tiankong was a large city within the Kingdom of Heping, the world was vast. It was clear that Xue Wei would one day explore the rest of the countries much like Xiao Lei did from time to time.
Xue Wei said his goodbye and got ready to leave. He headed towards the outskirts of town where other experts were present, waiting for the group to set out.
Although the group of experts from Tiankong City was split into two groups, Xue Wei knew that when they were going towards the army, all of them would go together. They would have a group of guards with them, all at the Earth Warrior rank that would guard them all the way to the army.
Everyone kept a cordial and proper relationship during this trip. No one knew who they would be sat in a group with when they reached the army, and thus many gave up on being split into factions in the next decade where they had to trust their comrades with their backs.
Chapter 35 – Goodbye Tiankong City
Having said their goodbyes, the entire city was gathered outside the city gates to watch how their young ones were ready to leave for the army. Not even a third of them would return home after the decade had passed.
There were a couple of thousand young women and men, as all the commoners were there too. Most of them were between the fifth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, and then there were Luo Zhirou, Shen Mu, Li Jian, and Xue Wei at the ninth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank.
Some looked scared about the world they were about to embark upon, while others seemed excited. In theory, those who were ranked low would be the first to die, and these young people were aware of it.
A couple of the low-ranked even shed a few tears over their unfortunate situation. It could be that their cultivation talent was lacking, or perhaps they had just not focused enough on cultivating. Either way, they knew that their chances of survival were slim and they could only lament over their fate.
Even these low-ranked experts knew that their sacrifice was needed for the kingdom and humanity, and none of them were willing to run away. They knew that if they did, not only would they be impeded, their entire families would be punished.
Xue Wei observed everything with a calm and distant gaze. These commoners had never treated him well, nor had they treated him poorly because he was Xiao Lei’s nephew, but he knew that they had looked down upon him before.
He knew that they had found pleasure in talking about and mocking him, and thus he felt no remorse for their fate. In this world, only the strong could survive. He had felt it on his own body repeatedly during the five years where he could not cultivate, and now he was much more rational and cold towards those he did not feel any kinship with.
Although he had decided not to seek vengeance against anyone other than Li Jian, he still felt nothing for the group of followers he had; neither did he feel anything for Shen Mu's friends apart from Luo Zhirou.
Luo Zhirou had admitted to her error in front of him. She had apologized sincerely, and she had even brought a gift of apology. Although the present had been mere snacks, he could not help but feel that she had put some consideration into it. Also, he had seen how nervous and scared she had been of him not accepting the apology. As a result, his impression of her had risen to become favorable.
The rest of Shen Mu’s friends were different. Although they would talk to Xue Wei as if they were friends or acquaintances, they would never admit to having been wrong, and neither would they apologize for treating him the way they had the last five years.
As a result, Xue Wei saw them more as a bunch of followers of Shen Mu, and for Shen Mu's sake he would be cordial when dealing with them. However, he would not go out of his way to become friends with them.
Xue Wei stood on the edge of the large group of youngsters, looking at Tiankong City. He had no memories from a world outside of Tiankong City, yet sometimes, during the last five and a half years, he had had visions of a tranquil and idyllic small village sat on the outskirts of a big snowy forest.
After talking with Wang Xiaoyun, he discovered that this village was known as Lingyun Town, a small town that had been subject to the rage and destruction of a Primordial Beast.
No matter how much Xue Wei tried to remember this episode, he had no memories of it, and his head would start throbbing painfully.
"I will find out when I go there," he mumbled to himself. "If it was a Primordial Beast attack and everyone died, why did I survive?" he could not help but wonder. But after sighing, he knew that it made no sense to consider it anymore. Instead, his eyes narrowed as he looked around the dense cluster of youngsters waiting to depart.
Suddenly, a chill went down his spine, and Xue Wei turned around in a rush. There, behind him, was a woman. She was wearing the same outfit as she had dressed in the auction house, and she was riding on the Black Horned Mammoth.
This woman's face was hidden beneath a bamboo hat with a veil around it, and her robe covered her entire body. It was impossible to see where she was looking, but Xue Wei had a feeling that she was staring right at him.
He shivered, and he sensed a deep feeling of danger and threat. It was as if he was standing right in front of a murderous Fierce Beast that was at least a couple of ranks above him.
He swallowed hard as he looked back at the woman, but all of a sudden, the feeling of danger vanished, and the Black Horned Mammoth started moving with the woman seated on top of it.
Everyone had been observing it with reverence. It was no secret that an unknown figure had bought the Black Horned Mammoth, and now that they had seen her, they were filled with curiosity. Everyone was discussing animatedly amongst themselves.
Xue Wei frowned. "Why would she have such killing intent towards me?" he asked himself. "There was nothing in the Auction House. Could it be because of me seeing her hand? But that is rather far-fetched."
Xue Wei was in deep thought, unsure of what exactly could cause this woman to show such hate towards him.
"Her strength is the real thing," he continued. "She was able to release such a heavy atmosphere, yet the only one who noticed it was me, the target. Not even old man Bingwen or Li Fang noticed anything."
Xue Wei's eyes grew round as he reached this conclusion, "Don't tell me that she’s the unknown person who infiltrated Li Fang's mansion."
"It would make sense then," he paused for a bit and rubbed his chin. "She had no enmity with me during the auction house because there was nothing between us, but after talking with Li Jian, I have become her target."
"If that is the case, then I am indeed very unlucky," Xue Wei sighed. "She should be in a realm above the Heavenly Warrior rank, and she should be able to kill me with but a glance, but she did not do it. What does this mean?"
Xue Wei was confused. "Okay, let us see it from the start," he decided.
"We met at the auction house; there was no hostility between us. We met again now, and she released a heavy atmosphere that could threaten me. However, considering her strength, this atmosphere must be a tiny bit of her real power."
"Why would she only release a bit and not it all? Did she not agree with Li Jian to kill me, or does she have some other plans?"
Sighing, Xue Wei shook his head, "I can do nothing but wait and see what happens. Even if I ask old man Bingwen about her, I fear that he would not tell me anything."
"But considering how he was eager to get his hands on the lower ranked beast, he should know about her, at least a little."
Shaking his head, Xue Wei sighed again, "I will have to be alert on this trip, but if that woman truly wishes to kill me, then I won't be able to survive. Still, I will do my very best to stay alive as long as I can."
Having reached this point, Xue Wei was filled with energy. He could feel it flooding through his body, and he knew that he was ready to depart. Whatever happened woul
d happen, and he was just too weak to go against it. Since this was the case, then he would just have to hope for the best.
While he was thinking like this, Li Jian glanced at Xue Wei. His mind was filled with venomous thoughts. Suddenly, a sinister smile curled on his lips.
"Just you wait," he grinned to himself, "in a few days, you will no longer be able to live. I will ensure that you will die on the way to the army. The mysterious lady promised me that you would die!"
"I will make it so that your body will be left in the wilderness with beasts gnawing at your bones. No one will be able to find you again, and it will be done in such a way that I can never be charged for it! I cannot wait to see what she has in mind."
Everyone said their goodbyes, and slowly, the entourage of young experts began moving.
"Everyone, get moving!" the captain of the guards yelled out. "I will be leading you, and we have to rush through the landscape to make it to the army."
