by A P Gore
As far as he remembered, the storage ring had a few more pills and enough gold for Fei’er to live a good life. If she was smart, she would cultivate and reach a respectable level using those resources. “Fei’er. Go back to city right away. I have the Blood Nourishing Powder on me, so don’t worry about me.” He sent a divine transmission message and crawled under the pit. This was his goodbye to Fei’er. If he had to bring her with him, she would face too many troubles. She had a family here in Old Martial City, and she would do well with her own kin.
Pain radiated through his wound when a stone brushed against it. Although he had recovered previously, the new wound left him bleeding once again, but he had no other option. This pit was his only survival option. The pit was long, and it wouldn’t let a large-framed guy like Li Tang follow him.
“Little brat, you are courting your death,” Li Tang shouted and thrashed something in the pit. “Die, little brat. This pit will serve as your grave.”
A bright light shot from behind him and pierced through Wei’s chest and crashed with the tunnel mouth ahead, destroying it in one go.
Dust and pebbles flew everywhere, blinding him. The light that passed through his chest had torn apart his muscles and bone, and he was losing blood rapidly.
This was bad. No, this was worse. His escape route was closed off, and he was bleeding like a tap.
Chapter 13 Du clan
Li Ti watched over Li Sua, husband of his only sister, Li Min. Seeing Li Sua, Li Ti felt disgust to his bones. Li Sua was a degenerate bastard who had more concubines than a city lord, and Li Ti hated such people and wished he could refine these degenerates in his alchemy furnace. This degenerate even smelled like shit.
To this day, he regretted letting him marry his sister.
Unfortunately, he had to look over this degenerate and even feed him Blood Nourishing Powder so he wouldn’t die. The patriarch, his father should decide his fate. Although they had confirmed that Li Sua didn’t steal the pill from the Li clan’s treasury, he’d defied elder brother Tang’s command, so Li Sua deserved a heavy punishment. If they had gotten that pill, their father could have received a lifeline. In fact, he knew their father needed this pill to break through and deter Du clan’s forces.
Anyway, it didn’t matter anymore. Once he entered Divine Fragrance Palace as an external disciple in the upcoming disciple selection exam, he would get a Foundation Refirming Pill for himself, and he would offer it to his father. He could even get his hands on more pills if he spent some money. If he was fortunate, he might even get to learn from an alchemy teacher and concoct a few low-grade pills himself. Father had invested so much money in him, and he wanted to repay his debt by concocting pills so he could overcome his cultivation bottleneck.
While walking through the room, his gaze fell on the trunk hidden below a wooden bed. Out of curiosity, he pulled it out and checked the contents, and he was shocked to his bones.
The wooden trunk was filled with silver coins. How did this degenerate earn so many silver coins? He must have swindled them from the clan, but he’d seen no suspicious entries in the accounting books.
Then how did he have a wooden trunk full of silver coins?
Suddenly, the door opened, and elder brother Tang stormed in with his palm placed on the right side of his chest. Blood dripped from his wounds and mixed with his tattered sky-blue robe, painting it red.
“Elder brother Tang.” Li Ti jumped out of his lotus position and helped Tang to sit on a wooden chair. This room only had chairs, so he helped elder brother Tang to sit on one.
“Give me . . .” Blood spurted out of Tang’s mouth, and Li Ti grew worried. His elder brother seemed to be in a dire situation, but fortunately Li Ti had a Blood Vitality Pill on him that could save his elder brother.
Pulling out a jade and red pill, he fed it to his elder brother.
In five minutes, Tang’s condition improved. His breath settled to a normal rhythm, and his wounds slowly healed. Even his face regained its color.
“Ti’er, thank you for helping me.”
Li Ti smiled. “Elder brother is overpraising me. This is my duty. But where is brother Jia and that little rascal Li Wei?”
Li Tang’s face turned darker, like something bad had happened. “That kid . . .” Tears dropped from his eyes.
Li Ti’s heart pulsed with an unknown pain. Something was definitely off here. “Elder brother, tell me what happened?”
Elder brother Tang wiped his tears and exhaled. “That kid, Li Wei, really lead us to a place where we found few Body Refirming Pills, but a gang of bandits attacked us and Jia’er and that kid . . .” He lowered his face and sobbed hard.
Li Ti dropped on his butt. Elder brother Jia was dead. This would be a major blow to his father. He was already besieged by Du clan. Losing brother Jia would be detrimental to their clan. And that rascal Li Wei had perished too. Father wouldn’t be happy about that. Although his father didn’t show it, he cared for that little rascal, as he was the only remaining memory of their sister Min’er.
“But I fought and saved one pill for father. Please keep it safe.” Elder brother Tang took out a pill and handed it to Li Ti.
Sniffing, Li Ti took the pill and dropped it inside a jade box. Although they’d lost a formidable brother, they’d gained a pill that could help father.
Not everything was lost.
***
Du Xin scanned the map brought by Tian Yun. The old parchment belonged in Tian clan’s treasure vault, but Tian Yun had stolen it and brought it to him.
“Brother Yun, are you sure this is real?” This map pointed to Ancient Ruins near Old Martial City, but that place was forbidden by the ancestors, and no one dared to march in those ruins or the tunnel system that ran everywhere throughout the colossal area. In fact, his father, Du clan’s local branch head, Du Lufang, had sent one Foundation Realm cultivator to search the ruins, but he’d never come back. So, the whole local branch of the Du clan in Old Martial City was forbidden from stepping into the Ancient Ruins.
“Brother Xin. You remember Tian clan patriarch, Tian Wu? He suddenly broke through Foundation Realm a few years back. Recently he rose to layer eight Foundation Realm. It was possible because of this map.”
Du Xin nodded. It was a surprise for Old Martial City. Tian clan was among the low-level clans in Old Martial City, and they’d suddenly became powerful when their patriarch had broken into Foundation Realm suddenly. Although it didn’t affect Du clan, as they had three Foundation Realm cultivators in the local branch, the power dynamics shifted overnight. Suddenly, three clans had Foundation Realm cultivators in Old Martial City: Li clan, Du clan, and Tian clan.
“He broke through with the help of this map. He didn’t get the main inheritance, but he obtained one heavenly fruit that allowed him to break through in one go. He once told my father that if he could get the main inheritance, he would have reached Boiling Blood Realm directly.
“Boiling Blood Realm?” Du Xin’s heart galloped faster than a horse at full speed. Boiling Blood Realm was a legendary realm, and only sects and great clans of the royal city had Boiling Blood Realm experts living in them. Even the emperor recognized Boiling Blood Realm experts. If Tian clan had raised one Boiling Blood Realm master, they would instantly reach the status of a Tier 2 clan, and they would rule over a region, and Du clan could never compete with them.
“Think about this, brother Xin. You and me. Once we become Boiling Blood Realm experts, we’ll reach the clouds, and all the riches of the world will be at our feet.”
Du Xin nodded. This was indeed true. He glanced at the map once and vowed in his heart that he would become a Boiling Blood Realm master. No matter what.
***
“Young master. Wake up.” A soft palm caressed his cheek, and Wei suddenly woke up in a daze and found dirt all over his face. A familiar orchid fragrance mixed with something ancient overwhelmed his senses.
Where was he? With half-open eyes he spotted two sharp blue eyes st
aring back at him. Darkness had swallowed everything else. Other than Fei’er's warm hand resting on his face, and the warmth that exuded from her body, he couldn’t sense anything else.
A throbbing pain emerging from his chest, reminding him of his predicament. That bastard Li Tang had used a Bronze Grade Light Shooting Talisman to blast through his chest and made him fall in the forbidden tunnel.
“Young master, are you okay?”
“F—” He spat a mouthful of weird-tasting soil.
Spreading his divine sense, he checked around as finger-thick darkness restricted his viewing.
“Fei’er, what are you doing here?” Blood jumped to his throat, threatening to come out, but somehow, he suppressed it. His condition wasn’t good, and his entire body was in pain. Especially his ass which felt like his father had whipped it for the entire night.
“Young master. Eat this Blood Vitality Pill I found in your ring. This should help you recuperate.” She pushed a cold pill between his lips.
Shaking his head, he grabbed the pill and handed it back to Fei’er. “Keep it in the jade box. If I’m not dead, then I’ll be okay.” He didn’t need a pill to recuperate. He could use this predicament to his advantage. Blood Essence Body could be better cultivated when he generated new blood using this cultivation art. If he wasn’t injured, it would be quite slow to absorb essence energy into his blood and body.
But falling in forbidden tunnels wasn’t a good thing. Spreading his divine sense, he tried to sense their position. There was a tunnel to their right, but even after a mile there was no end. Their left and front was covered in metal walls, while the entrance was a thousand feet above their head.
It was impossible to climb back.
“Young master, what is this place?” Fei’er asked innocently.
“Lass, you shouldn’t have come here.” He sighed in his heart. He might die here, but he didn’t want that little lass to die with him. The Ancient Ruins was a weird place. From the outside, it was a monument left by some dynasty that was plundered again and again. Not a single building stood erect, and the passage of time had destroyed everything.
Well, except for one thing: the water and sewage tunnel system that ran below the city. It remained as good as new. Even the metal walls looked like someone polished them every week. Many people had explored these tunnels and formed a map of this complex maze system. On land, anyone could walk through the ruined buildings facing no danger, but these tunnels were different. Only five percent of the overall maze system could allow one safe passage, while ninety-five percent were forbidden tunnels.
A few months back, his previous self was forced into these tunnels by Du family kids, and they had lost two people before getting out of the tunnels. If someone fell or entered the forbidden tunnels, they didn’t come back.
And right now, he was in one of those forbidden tunnels without a way out. At least not with their current cultivation.
“Young master. Let’s get out of here. I came here after that villain left this place. He even threw his own friend in another tunnel.”
“Li Tang.” Wei greeted his teeth. “I’ll have my revenge.”
“Young master, let’s go back.”
Wei signed, his shoulders slumping. “We can’t. These forbidden tunnels have a weird suction force, and we can’t climb up. We can only go down or horizontal.”
“Young master, let me try.” Fei’er got up and tried to climb back, but she couldn’t and flopped down on her tiny tushy. “Young master, how are we going to make out of here?” Her voice quivered.
Wei was about to reply when a soul-stirring roar came out of the other side of the tunnel. Something was coming for them, and that thing was powerful as hell.
They were in danger.
Chapter 14 Beast Subduing Pill
Li Wei shuddered when the beast’s roar struck his eardrums, filling his heart with intimidation. Not that he hadn’t fought with Ferocious Beasts in his previous life, but he had never fought with them in a situation where he was completely helpless. In his previous life, he always had something to rely on. Array disks, flags, formations, talismans, and whatnot.
But this time he had nowhere to run. The only way forward was where the beast's roar came from, and the tunnel was too cramped for him to get up and fight. Not that he could fight in his current condition.
Hot air blew from the other end of the tunnel before a Two Fang Wolf marched into view. In the dim light Fei’er had set up, he spotted two dark red eyes raging at them. Two white canines protruded from the corner of the beast’s mouth. This wolf was famous for its tough hide and sharp white canines that could pierce through even normal metal.
“Young master.” Fei’er shifted toward him, her tiny body huddling closer, her orchid fragrance distracting him for a moment.
“Fei’er, get behind me.” Wei licked his parched lips. This was a tough situation, but he remained calm. Spreading his divine sense, he judged the cultivation of this beast.
Pain shot through his brain when he used his divine sense, but in a fraction of a moment he scanned the beast’s cultivation.
Ferocious Beasts could cultivate. At low levels, they followed the same cultivation realms as humans. This beast was around body Refinement Realm layer five or six. Something he couldn’t handle in these conditions. Despite having rich experience in fighting Ferocious Beasts, he had no way to overcome four layers of difference. It was impossible in his injured state.
If he was in peak condition, he might have fared better because of his strong body. But Fei’er . . .
Was he going to die right after being reincarnated?
No, he definitely wouldn’t. Using all his brain capacity, he scanned through the obscure techniques he had learned or seen in his previous life. There had to be something he could use to battle across realms. In fact, there were few, but none were useful now. If he had a qi cultivation base, he could use an obscure forbidden technique to boost his powers and break through a realm, but he didn’t have qi cultivation. Fei’er might be able to use it, but without having strong experience in cultivation, she couldn’t use that technique.
Wait, there were some more pills inside the storage ring he’d given to Fei’er. When the expert showed him its contents in his previous life, he’d mentioned that a few were beast pills. And he’d found this ring inside the tunnels. So, if the tunnels had beasts, the pills might be helpful.
“Fei’er, give me one of each pill from the ring. Quickly!”
Growling, the beast stepped forward. It seemed to analyze its prey before attacking, a natural instinct for predators. It looked thin and hungry, and both of them were enticing food. Especially Wei himself, with so much fat over his body. In his past life, when he’d joined Heavenly Firmament Sect, he lost all the fat, turning into a handsome man. Many junior and senior sisters of the sect chased after him, but he only had one beauty in his mind: Wang Zia, that bitch.
A strong medicinal fragrance wafted in the air as soon as Fei’er pulled a few pills out of the ring. Even the beast sniffed the air and stared at the pills with greedy eyes.
Wei scanned the pills, his jaw almost hitting the ground when he recognized a few of them. The expert that had stolen this ring from him in his previous life must not have known much about the pills, else he wouldn’t have told Wei about the ring’s contents.
One of the pills was a Bone Barrier Hitting Pill, a precious pill used by qi cultivators to break through to Bone Baptization Realm. It was quite precious in the Mortal World, and only sects had access to this pill.
“Young master, what are those pills?” Fei’er asked.
The man that died must have been a high echelon from a sect. Many of these pills could be only found in sects. Common people wouldn’t know about them. But Wei had two hundred years’ experience from the future, so he knew these pills. Although he wasn’t an alchemist, he’d consumed many of these pills when he joined Heavenly Firmament Sect, so he could easily recognize them.
The wolf growled and leaped forward; its eyes fixed on the pills in Wei’s palm.
This was it. One of the pills was a Beast Subduing Pill. It was a common pill used for subduing Ferocious Beasts and killing them. It had a unique scent that beasts found irresistible. Mixed with a strong sleeping herb, this pill could turn the tide of a battle.
Wei threw the Beast Subduing Pill just a few feet away from him. He didn’t want to throw it too far away, nor too close. If the beast had to choose between the pill and his bloody body, it might choose him instead, and he didn’t want that.
The wolf howled greedily, halting at the pill lying on the metal ground. It reeked of blood and dirt, and Wei wanted to plug his nose. After advancing in body cultivation, his senses had improved a lot, and these overwhelming odors mentally tortured him.
Lifting the pill with its tongue, the beast devoured it in a breath’s time. With the pill in its stomach, it turned its red eyes toward Wei. But before it could take a step, it dropped on the ground, unconscious. The pill had worked, and the beast was down.
“Young master, what did that pill . . .”
“Kill it first.” Wei hurried her. The pill was good, but it wouldn’t put the beast to sleep for eternity. They only had a minute or two before the pill’s effect wore off, and they had to kill the beast before that.
Fei’er’s petite figure dashed forward, and she attacked the wolf’s stomach with her knife.
“Stupid lass, attack the eyes first and pierce its brain.” The Two Fang Wolf was known for its tough hide, and with just layer one qi Refinement Realm, Fei’er could cut all year long and wouldn’t slice through the beast’s hide.
Fei’er giggled sheepishly and then struck with her knife at the beast’s eyes. The blade pierced through there easily, and then she stabbed the beast’s brain a couple of times, killing it on the spot. “I did it, young master. I killed a Ferocious Beast.” She sounded like she’d won a thousand gold prize in a martial competition.
