Chapter 10 - Combat Training

Right now, Yaan really didn’t want to speak with Elia. No, it would be more accurate to say that he didn’t want to see her at all. He tried to brush her off as quickly as possible, but she was simply too persistent, and she seemed unable to sense his discomfort. As Elia continued to hang around him despite his repeated attempts to end the conversation, they ended up chatting for almost an entire hour. Every minute of this time was painful for Yaan, he felt that he didn’t deserve the company of such a sweet and naive girl.

“Sigh…she really bought into that story about the demonic beast like everyone else. The truth is that I killed 88 of the people, the rest escaped into the dark forest and died to the beasts of the forest.” Yaan sighed as he trudged home by his lonesome.

“Hmm? You actually believe that the remaining children escaped into the dark forest?” Hearing him muttering to himself, Rui responded with a slight raise of her eyebrow.

“Huh? Yeah, that’s what teacher said, so…”

“To think that you’re still this naive. For the remaining children to all escape into the forest, then for them all to fall prey to demonic beasts, do you really believe that such a lucky coincidence exists in this world?”

“Lucky?” Yaan asked blankly. How exactly could that be considered lucky?

“Lucky for you. What do you think would happen if there were remaining witnesses? Obviously, your teacher killed them all to prevent suspicions from arising. I assumed that you knew this already.”

Her words left Yaan feeling somewhat shaken.

“Teacher wouldn’t…no, I suppose he might.” Thinking about it logically, his teacher may indeed have done this. Yaan just didn’t want to believe that the gentle old man was capable of such horrors.

“Remember, you are just a child, your world view is too narrow and your judgement of others too shallow. Don’t trust the empty facade that people show you on the surface, anyone is capable of cruel acts if it allows them to reach their ambition.”

Yaan nodded quietly, his mood ruined even further by this knowledge.

It was often like this with Rui. She had taken the role of a teacher, though not one who comforted him like Great Elder Wan. Instead of raising him with kindness and understanding, she was gradually killing off his childish ignorance by teaching him about the darker side of this world.

The core sect became much more lively following the announcement of the inter-sect competition. Everyone became crazed in their cultivation, devoting almost all of their time either to refining Yuan Qi or to practicing their combat abilities.

For a Qi master, one’s combat prowess was extremely important. Whether it be proving oneself to the sect as a disciple, suppressing enemy threats as an Elder or simply increasing one’s own ability to survive, combat ability was something that could never be neglected.

Great Elder Wan also took it upon himself to up the intensity of Yaan’s own training. After ascending to the Qi Gathering realm, Yaan had only focussed on refining more Yuan Qi from the slaughter aura of the prisoners he killed. However, the fiend race needed to train both their Qi and their physical bodies.

To cultivate the physical body, there were certain medicines that could be used to do so. These medicines couldn’t be used by ordinary Qi masters, but were usually fed to tamed spirit beasts to build up their strength.

The other method of cultivating the body was to consume the body parts of demonic beasts and spirit beasts. Eating the meat and organs or drinking the blood of other beasts was the main method that the beasts used to increase their strength in the wild, but it was something that would be effective for any being cultivating their fleshly body.

For Great Elder Wan, this was the perfect solution. He could easily hunt a few demonic beasts from the dark forest without anybody noticing, removing the need for the medicinal pills and tinctures. This way, he wouldn’t arouse suspicion as people questioned his need for those pills, since he had no tamed beast of his own.

Besides increasing his body’s strength, his teacher also suggested that Yaan begin practising actual combat.

Those people at the Qi Gathering realm were unable to cast spells and rarely used expensive treasures, so they mainly fought by filling their bodies with Yuan Qi to increase their strength and speed temporarily. This was the same method that Xinti had used whenever he beat down the kids at Zong Village, and also the method that Yaan would utilise for now.

However, Yaan also possessed a 1-Star demonic body, meaning that his actual abilities were similar to a Peak Qi Gathering realm Qi master, despite only being at the mid stage himself.

His teacher started off by sparring with Yaan using ordinary swords. Yaan fought with the same sword that had executed so many prisoners, whilst Great Elder Wan had a similar ordinary steel sword of his own.

Thud!

Yaan fell back and landed on his buttocks for the hundredth time that day.

“That’s all for today. Spend the remainder of the day eating the demonic beast heart. Tomorrow, you will battle against an Early Qi Gathering realm Qi master in peak condition. They will be unarmed, so don’t worry too much.”

Rubbing his butt in pain as he stood up, Yaan complained, voicing his doubts towards these training methods.

“Teacher, have I really learned anything? I’ve sparred against you every day for the past month, but the result is always the same! 100 defeats every single day, in around the same period of time!”

“That is only because I have been continually increasing my skill level, targeting different weak spots each time. The Agile Sword Arts suit you well Yaan, your progress has impressed me.” Great Elder Wan praised him honestly.

He had only considered Yaan to be a vessel for his ambitions at first, thinking nothing of his talent towards cultivation. Now that he witnessed Yaan progressing rapidly in this sword art though, he realised that Yaan held within him some real talent in the area of sword arts. This caused a strange feeling to well up in the Elder’s heart, a feeling that he forcefully suppressed and tried his best to ignore.

Sword arts were not spells, but martial arts that taught one to utilise the essence of the sword. Similarly, there were spear arts, saber arts, bow arts and so on. It was common for Qi masters to become well versed in the various martial arts in order to draw out the maximum potential from their treasures.

The power of sword arts could be seen from how Great Elder Wan was restricting his own cultivation, essentially becoming a mortal as he fought, yet still easily defeating Yaan who had access to his full cultivation. This simple technique allowed him to overcome the cultivation boundary, though this skill level was only attainable after accumulating decades of experience.

The following day, Yaan found himself locked into the central hub of the third layer dungeon. This circular room with doors scattered throughout could actually act as a training area for the core disciples. This was training via bloodshed, a place where they could battle the prisoners to hone their combat abilities. It was an excellent way to gain real life experience in a carefully controlled environment.

Yaan looked down at the key in his hand and took a deep breath. The number ‘6’ was written on the bronze handle. He looked around, then found the sixth door and made his way across.

Clink…

The lock clicked open, making Yaan hesitate for a moment. However, a look of resolve soon flashed through his eyes and his hesitation vanished without a trace. He pushed in the door and took three steps back, quickly raising his guard as he waited for the opponent to come out.

After a full minute passed by, Yaan couldn’t help but wonder if the cell was empty. He stepped forwards to look, when a figure suddenly blurred out from the cell.

The person within was obviously trying to catch him off guard, but Yaan wasn’t such an easy target. His heart lurched for a moment, but the second he saw the rushing figure, he actually stepped forwards and lunged swiftly with his sword in one hand. Yaan’s body came to a halt as he faced the person sideways, arm outstretched and sword through their neck.

“Damnit…” The man stared at him hatefully, choking out a single word, resulting in blood sputtering from the hole in his throat. A moment later, the life faded from his eyes. Yaan retracted the blade, watching calmly as the lifeless body dropped to the floor.

After spending a few minutes refining the slaughter aura completely, Yaan reflected on this battle as he left the room.

“What did you think, Yaan?” His teacher asked him expectantly after he opened the door and stepped outside. Yaan showed a pondering expression and stayed silent for a few seconds, clearly thinking about his response carefully.

“It was over so quickly. The battle lasted less than a few seconds. No, if you count the time that he spent waiting in the cell, then it was actually over a minute.”

Great Elder Wan nodded, understanding his surprise.

“Indeed, combat between Qi masters is extremely variable and unlike that between mortals. It can last for a full day or a single second, depending on the parties involved.”

As they silently exited the dungeon and ascended to the main punishment hall above, Yaan flinched. He paused for a moment, considering hiding back for a moment, but ended up sighing and continuing onwards. When Elia spotted him and her expression lit up, he sighed to himself yet again and watched as she waved and skipped over.

“Yaan! Oh…you were in the dungeon again?” She looked slightly uncomfortable, glancing back towards the punishment hall entrance and involuntarily shivering.

“Right.” Yaan nodded his head, keeping his answer brief and his tone calm.

Dealing with Elia was giving him a headache. He felt strange whenever she sought him out, it was as if he had betrayed her and was continuing to deceive her every time they spoke. This deceitful feeling gave Yaan an unpleasant feeling, sometimes even making him feel slightly nauseated.

Rui told him that he needed to stop caring about things like this, but it was more difficult than she made it out to be. He couldn’t so easily discard the sentiment he felt towards this girl he grew up with, nor could he ignore the guilt in his heart regarding his crazed actions in Zong Village. Even if he wasn’t in his right state of mind back then, it remained a fact that he had killed dozens of innocent children, including someone he had once considered a friend.

Luckily, Great Elder Wan seemed to notice Yaan’s unease.

“We need to begin your sword art practice, Yaan.”

“Ah, sorry for interrupting, Great Elder Wan!” Elia exclaimed in embarrassment, getting flustered and awkwardly bowing her head when she remembered that she was supposed to pay her respects to the Sect Elders.

She watched as her old friend and his teacher disappeared down the mountain, her expression turning downcast after Yaan left.

“Just what happened to Yaan exactly? He’s so much different than before… he’s always so polite, but I feel that he became much colder…” She muttered to herself sadly.

As Yaan and his teacher departed from the more bustling region of the core sect, they happened to pass by the Sect Lord. Yaan bowed to the overbearing man, then followed after his teacher who had just nodded lightly in passing.

“Hmm? What’s wrong Elia?” The Sect Lord asked on seeing the girl’s unhidden depressed expression.

“It’s Yaan…he’s become more distant. And I really can’t believe that he has killed so many prisoners…is he really the same boy I knew back in Lightstone village?” She shared her pain openly with the Sect Lord, not holding back or showing any sort of caution.

Elia became the disciple of Elder Sun after entering the inner sect, but was taken as the Sect Lord’s second disciple after her unique constitution was discovered. Actually, this was the other reason that Yaan was avoiding her. Besides the guilt he felt, he also couldn’t help but despise her slightly for accepting that damned Elder Sun as her teacher! He knew that she probably didn’t have much choice in the matter, but she didn’t even seem to view it as something wrong!

Her naivety and willingness to become close to his hated enemy irritated Yaan.

‘Compared to Yaan, she is much more child like. No, she is certainly ordinary for her age, it is Yaan whom is the strange one.’ The Sect Lord thought to himself mildly.

“Yaan has been through a lot. His technique and constitution requires him to develop a strong mindset. Killing the prisoners is necessary for his cultivation to progress steadily. He is simply devoted to the immortal way, Elia.”

Hearing this excuse, Elia became silent. No matter what, she really couldn’t understand why Yaan would want to fill his life with such horrible things.