Blood of the Army

by Tinalynge

  Lan picked up a single blue pill and dropped it into Xue Wei's mouth. "Well then, now you should wake up soon," he said and leaned against the bed as he relaxed.

  Two moments later, Xue Wei rightfully awoke. His face was pale and his body trembled, but he was no longer in pain.

  "What happened?" he asked, a perplexed look on his face when he realized that he was in his tent once more and no longer out on the grassy fields where they had been training before.

  "Well, I was hoping you could tell me that," Lan gave a slight smile.

  Chapter 23 - Heritage Ring

  "I imagined a dragon arm," Xue Wei said while frowning. "I saw something, but I can't recall what it was." He shook his head.

  "A dragon arm?" Lan mused for a bit of time, but then he shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said after a bit of consideration.

  "I will show you what a dragon arm looks like," he said, and a book suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  It was clear that Lan had a storage treasure of some kind, and Xue Wei was curious about what it was.

  Seeing his curious demeanor, Lan chuckled, but he did not explain anything. Instead, he opened the book on a certain page where there was an azure dragon.

  "Azure dragons," he introduced, "are the kings of dragons, a type of beast that one has to respect for their strength and also upright behavior."

  "A Primordial Beast can have an upright behavior?" Xue Wei asked curiously, and Lan smirked. "Just because they are beasts does not make them that much different from humans."

  "They kept us as livestock and slaves for centuries, so I would not consider that upright behavior," Xue Wei frowned, but Lan just laughed at him again, something Xue Wei had gotten very used to over the past few days.

  "They are as upright as humans," Lan snickered. "Don't you use Diviners to enslave beasts now? Don't you eat Fierce and Primordial Beast meat whenever you get the chance? Use their silk and hide to make clothes, their bones and cores to make weapons, lights, and other necessities?"

  Xue Wei suddenly gasped. He had never thought about it like this before; what the beasts had done to the humans, the humans were now doing to the beasts.

  "This needs some consideration," Xue Wei said with a thoughtful expression. He had always thought their cause had been righteous in his mind when he wanted to become a Primordial Beast Hunter, but these beasts were in fact also just forced to act the way they did by their nature.

  "It won't change anything," Xue Wei finally sighed. "I am a human, so obviously I should side with the humans, protect them, and defeat as many Primordial Beasts as possible. The only thing is that I will now be more realistic about them. I cannot hate something that just follows their nature like this, since I am not different from them."

  Lan nodded his head in praise at how easily Xue Wei accepted the mentality of the beasts, but he said nothing more and handed the book to Xue Wei.

  "Look at this dragon and tell me what exactly it looks like," Lan ordered and Xue Wei nodded his head.

  "It looks like a dragon. Dragons have many shapes such as turtles and fish, but the majority of them are snake-like with four legs, two front legs, and two hind legs."

  Xue Wei said what he had read about dragons in books, but then he looked at the picture. There was a snake-like dragon.

  "Azure scales," Xue Wei was deep in thought, and as he thought about the front legs, or arms, of an azure dragon, azure scales started to sprout from his skin, coming from within the skin and breaking through, layering themselves all over his lower arms and fingers.

  His fingers also changed, as claws emerged on the fingertips in lieu of simple nails, becoming thicker and merging into only three claws.

  His arms grew in size, and Xue Wei could feel how he became much stronger than before. The Qi that flowed through his veins became denser, purer, and seemed to completely change its nature, while his physical strength alone rose to double or triple of what it had been before, and this was after only transforming his arms!

  Xue Wei stared in shock at his arms. It had been so simple to transform them; it was as if it came naturally to him to switch to the dragon arms.

  "This is because of your Azure Dragon Scripture," Lan praised. "Although it should not be very difficult, you are quite skilled to be able to do it as fast as you did."

  Xue Wei felt a hint of pride in his heart and was very satisfied with his accomplishments.

  "You know, you have to be careful and only use this in life and death situations," Lan warned him. "Although many would assume that you are just a Wayfarer or cultivating some sort of beastly scripture, some will notice it as being dragon arms, and then you might be captured for the sake of stealing your scripture. It is very rare and incredibly powerful after all."

  Xue Wei nodded his head after musing over Lan’s advice. It was true that he was not unique when it came to being capable of transforming part of his body into that of a Primordial Beast, but the ability of being able to completely transform into an Azure Dragon had to be kept a secret.

  "Well, don't look that troubled," Lan grinned. "Here in the Genius Camp, even if you only rely on your Shattering Mountain Palm, your Azure Light Finger, your Forbidden Rush, and your Sacrificial Stab, you are still above the others."

  "You have not fought anyone since you became an Earth Warrior, so we do not know how strong you are compared to the other geniuses, but don't forget that you just broke through to the Earth Warrior rank."

  "You have the ability to unlock the Heritage Ring once more, and then you will be able to get your hands on new techniques."

  "Do you want to open your heritage ring now, or do you want to wait until tomorrow and we do it early in the morning, and look through the skills available and pick a few to train?"

  Xue Wei contemplated and then looked at Lan. "Let us do it now," he said, incapable of hiding the eagerness in his voice and the excitement in his eyes.

  "Okay," Lan agreed. He, too, was slightly curious about what exactly this Xiao Lei, the leading figure of Heping Kingdom, had left behind for his nephew.

  Xue Wei took a deep breath and moved slightly to settle into the position in which he was sitting.

  He then reverted his arms to human arms with but a single thought, and then he looked at the ring on his hand.

  Withdrawing a single thread of Qi from his pearl-like dantian, Xue Wei guided it through his meridians towards his hands, where he made it leave his body and enter the ring on his finger.

  As soon as he did that, the tent shone with an azure light and holograms of five different abilities appeared in front of him.

  "Arcane Fist, a profound martial technique which allows the user to punch in an elusive, mysterious manner that seems to make their fist vanish. Sometimes, it produces extra fist imprints, and other times it vanishes from sight. Very hard to block. Can only be used in close-quarters combat."

  "Seed of Mirage, a profound martial technique that allows you to grow a spectral seed made of Qi. Each seed takes three breaths of time to grow, and when they have fully grown, they become a clone which can attack on its own with a strength depending on how much Qi has been inserted into the seed. The clone knows all attacks that the owner controls."

  "Heart of Fire, a profound martial technique that allows you to burn one drop of heart blood essence. Increases one's strength threefold for a period of thirty breaths of time. After the duration of the drop of heart blood essence ends, one will instantly feel fatigued and seriously injured."

  Xue Wei paused and looked at Lan. "What is heart blood essence?" he asked curiously.

  "Everyone has three types of blood; there is the ordinary blood which you will spill randomly when injured, then there is the blood essence which is very hard to restore and increase, and finally is the heart-blood essence." Lan began explaining.

  "If you use some of your blood essence, it will restore itself over time, but if you use heart blood essence, you will need to use outside help in the shape of medicinal plants to res
tore it."

  "The heart-blood is very precious, but if the question is about dying or using a drop of heart-blood, then use the heart-blood!" Lan specified.

  "Using your blood essence can boost your strength for a very short amount of time, or increase the power of a specific attack if you merge the blood essence into the Qi and then launch said attack."

  "Using blood essence will make you tired and exhausted, but your blood essence will restore itself if you leave it be for long enough. Your heart-blood essence is, unfortunately, much more difficult to restore."

  "I know of a few medicinal plants that can help, but they are far beyond your reach right now."

  "So this Heart of Fire is another life-saving ability," Xue Wei mused as he nodded his head. "It would be a great ability to learn, but it is not the most important one of them for now, so let us see what else this ring’s got."

  "Mind Infestation, a superior martial technique that allows the user to invade and penetrate the mind of one's opponent. Superior ranked ability but has the potential to reach profound-stage levels of power if the user has a strong soul. The ability depends fully on the user's soul to succeed."

  "Kick of Forgotten Kings, a profound martial technique that allows the user to be imbued with the might of the forgotten kings and unleash their strength in a powerful kick. Can only be used in close quarters combat."

  Xue Wei had read the final one of the abilities out loud as his eyes glistened with excitement. All five of these techniques sounded amazing!

  "So now that we have looked at them, which one would you like to begin with?" Lan asked, his eyes not displaying any of his innermost emotions. Xue Wei was left guessing as to whether or not he was impressed with the quality of the abilities he had been given.

  "I don't know," Xue Wei said seriously as he looked at the five abilities once more. "I think that the most beneficial one, for now, would be the Seed of Mirage," he said thoughtfully.

  "I already have a palm attack, and while the Shattering Mountain Palm is only a superior martial technique, it is without a doubt still better than what most cultivators here in the Kingdom of Heping has access to."

  "Because of this, I would postpone learning the Arcane Fist for now." Xue Wei concluded.

  "Then we have the Heart of Fire. While it is a very promising life-saving ability, I would rather rely on my transformed arms for now since I have already mastered that."

  "Mind Infestation is very interesting," Xue Wei continued, "but I have no clue as to how strong my soul is, and since it completely depends on the strength of one's soul, it might be better to focus on those I know will for sure strengthen me."

  "Finally, we have the Kick of Forgotten Kings. That one is also very interesting," he concluded. "I currently have no kicking arts, and thus it could prove to be very useful, but for now something about the Seed of Mirage calls me."

  "So, I understand that you want to focus on the Seed of Mirage first, followed by the Kick of Forgotten Kings?" Lan asked, and Xue Wei hesitated for a moment, thinking about the pros and cons of both before he nodded his head.

  "Great!" Lan exclaimed happily, and Xue Wei felt a calm descend upon him. He had decided which skills to focus on first, and now he had a full nine layers through the Earth Warrior stage of time to perfect these five abilities. It should be possible.

  "I already taught you everything about the Forbidden Rush, the Shattering Mountain Palm, and the Azure Light Finger, so from tomorrow onwards I will drill you in the Seed of Mirage until you perfect that one too!"

  Chapter 24 - Soul Crystal

  Xue Wei felt excited. Although Lan’s training method was rather spartan, it was also proving to bring many benefits to him.

  Lan was a tough but very skilled teacher. He would drill the abilities so hard into Xue Wei that he could do them even during his sleep.

  The following day, they went to their special location on the field. Once more, Lan began to explain how to best understand and use the ability. He did this every time.

  "The Seed of Mirage focuses on the word ‘mirage’. The mirage is based on illusions, and it spans over many different types of attacks. One can hide in the illusions and cover all tracks of oneself, making it so that no one can sense that they are there."

  "It is possible to use the mirage to change the appearance of a person, and it is possible to make people see things that are not there."

  "Your Seed of Mirage is creating a mirage – creating a replica of something out of nothing."

  "As such, it is a very high ranked ability among the category of skills that use mirages, as it enables you to create something real from nothing. It creates real copies that can attack and not just confuse."

  Lan introduced the mirage to Xue Wei. Xue Wei listened intently and made sure that everything Lan said was forever engraved in his heart so that he would not forget it in the future, and that his abilities would continue to improve.

  The Seed of Mirage is an ability where one creates a seed from Qi. The stronger one is, the more seeds one can create. And at the same time, one could also determine how strong it would be by how much Qi was provided to it.

  The strongest the copy could be was half of his strength, but the Qi used to create such a figure was equally high.

  The first attempt of the seed that Xue Wei made was thrown out, and both Lan and Xue Wei were eagerly awaiting the three breaths of time for the seed to sprout, only to see that nothing happened.

  They both felt rather anticlimactic as they had watched the seed with bated breath only to see it dissipate into nothingness.

  Lan laughed at it, and Xue Wei felt rather embarrassed, but then they began anew.

  The Seed of Mirage was harder to understand than what he had expected. The first seed that successfully sprouted turned into a blur that also dissipated into thin air, as it could not hold its shape.

  After trying for half the day, Xue Wei was capable of creating a figure that lasted for five breaths of time before it could no longer hold its shape. Although it was a short amount of time, the clone was already capable of sending out a few attacks.

  Every attack it sent out was aimed at Xue Wei so that he could get a feel for how powerful the attacks were and how much Qi he should send into the seed.

  At the start, he had sent so little Qi into the seed that it was incapable of sprouting.

  After that, he slowly adjusted it and found that the more Qi he added, the longer it lasted and the stronger the clone was.

  As time went on, Xue Wei became more and more proficient at creating the seed, and he found that the clone would act according to his own thoughts without a need to command it.

  It was completely loyal, did exactly what it could to work with Xue Wei's own plans, and he found that it complimented his fighting style quite a bit.

  It took three days for Xue Wei to finally get it under control. During these three days, they were at the field from early morning to late evening.

  Many an expert had glanced at them to see what exactly they had been doing, and they were curious as to what exactly Xue Wei was being taught by the prophet. Even the upper echelons of the army were curious. Some of them even felt slightly sour in their hearts for not being given the same attention.

  Although the youngsters knew about Lan being a prophet from the center of the continent, they did not know exactly how strong he was or how outstanding his reputation was.

  They were very well aware of what he could do, however. They knew he could topple kingdoms and destroy empires with the wave of his hand, and now he was patiently teaching a random youngster.

  Xue Wei continued to study the Seed of Mirage for a few days more before he felt that he had grasped the technique.

  Having been able to understand a technique in just a week was incredibly fast. During this week, Lan had been Xue Wei's sparring partner.

  After Xue Wei had gotten a good understanding of how much power the clone had depending on the Qi he used, he and the clone had fought aga
inst Lan in an attempt to get used to the coordination between himself and the clone.

  "I only have a few days left here," Lan said as the night drew close and they were walking towards the dining hall.

  "You have already learned the Seed of Mirage, which you can use as you please. Your next ability to learn is the Kick of Forgotten Kings. Then you will be fully prepared for whatever comes your way," Lan assessed.

  "You will have your Azure Light Finger for ranged attacks, your Shattering Mountain Palm for close quarters combat. You will have Forbidden Rush as a movement technique and Seed of Mirage as an auxiliary technique. For weaponry, you have Inner Might, and you will have Kick of Forgotten Kings as a leg attack."