Blood River dropped to the forest floor, a crimson bolt of energy shooting from his right hand. The projectile slammed into the beast -- a feline creature with scales instead of fur -- and it yowled and collapsed to the ground, writhing and thrashing. Activating Blood Ignition Acceleration for a brief moment, he sprinted to the dying beast and grasped the back of its neck with his right hand.

Energy flowed into him as the Blood Devouring Palm activated, topping off his reservoirs and nourishing his body. A part of the energy was refined and gathered at his solar plexus, refilling his supply of supplementary essence.

And yet, the sensation was... different somehow. Lacking. The infusion of blood energy had given him a rush of both pleasure and pain before, but now that pain had subsided to a mere dull itch.

The ecstasy ended as the last of the creature's blood vitality poured into him. River let go of the corpse, frowning as he ruminated on his concern. Yes, the pain had been well-nigh unbearable before, but with it had come a tempering force, an energy that ground at and refined every fiber of his being.

It had been a fortnight since River had opened his first meridian and received the impartation of the Blood Arrow technique. After that, he stopped returning to the indigo zone and only hunted in the violet zone, fighting peak Human Realm and initial Earth Realm beasts.

After the first week of this, he had opened nine more meridians. As promised, each of these later meridians was easier to open than the initial one, although a few of them had been a great deal more painful than the others. Besides the extra essence flowing through him, the primary benefit of opening these meridians was the addition of another technique: the Mind's Eye.

Mind's Eye was a sensory ability that allowed River to mentally visualize the immediate area and locate nearby beasts without having to rely on his normal eyesight. Additionally, Mind's Eye gave him a rough understanding of the strength of a given opponent relative to his own, allowing him to avoid confrontations that were too dangerous and exploit opportunities he might have otherwise missed.

Since the impartation of Mind's Eye, Mister Black rarely assisted him with locating prey. His ghostly mentor had made it clear that this time in the forest was a time for River to train and hone not only his techniques and cultivation but also his combat awareness. The old man had thus been silent as of late, only chiming in with the rare occasional pointer and otherwise leaving him to his own devices.

River decided to break the silence himself. "Mister Black?"

"Yes, my young friend?"

"There was something I was wondering about that I hoped you might be able to work out for me."

"You sound troubled. What's the problem?"

River took a deep breath. "I think something's wrong in my cultivation. All of my waking time in the past week has been spent in hunting and devouring the blood essence of the local beasts, and yet I haven't achieved any sort of breakthrough." He sighed. "I know that cultivation is a long path, but after how quickly I was advancing before..."

Mister Black laughed. "Impatient a bit, are we? You opened ten meridians in your first week after entering Meridian Circulation; that in itself is worthy of envy in the eyes of many. Physique tempering is a particularly long, arduous, and painful path to advance in as well, which is why many discard it as soon as they open their first meridian."

"But that's the thing!" River complained, "The pain I used to feel when tempering has pretty much disappeared. I can barely feel an itch anymore."

"Hmm..." the ghostly mentor vocalized his consideration of the problem. "That could indeed be a rather unfortunate sign for you, young man."

"Oh?" River's heart skipped a beat at the old man's pronouncement.

"Yes," Mister Black continued, "it could very well mean that your path of blood devouring is having difficulties. You could, in fact, be developing a resistance to blood vitality. Your quick road to cultivation may be at its end, young man."

River felt as though the ground had dropped out into a bottomless chasm with that pronouncement. Hadn't Mister Black promised him enough power to contest with Brave Dragon? How was he to manage that if his cultivation slowed down?

"Don't panic quite yet," Mister Black chided, "there are other methods we can pursue, after all. Plus there's something we may have to test to be certain of this."

"What test is that?" River grasped at the offer of hope like a man at sea grasped at driftwood, praying he could stay afloat.

Mister Black sighed. "Well, my young friend, it may be time for you to depart the Primeval Forest, at least for now. Your resistance may be related to, well, the source."

Realization hit River. "So then..."

"Yes, you'll need to see how human sources work." Mister Black confirmed. "Luckily for you, you have a list of acceptable targets, don't you? In larger towns, there are always bounties to fulfill, so you can kill two birds with one stone and obtain some of the more conventional resources. Even if this doesn't outright resolve your devouring issue, you'll continue moving forward."

River nodded. He truly didn't want even to contemplate what he'd have to do if Mister Black's conjecture turned out false; the feeling of continually advancing and overpowering all of his opponents was a sensation that he had grown accustomed to, and he would not abandon it.

"So, what's the plan now, old man?"

Mister Black snorted at the epithet. "Let's head out of the forest. Once outside we can orient ourselves and find a large town to visit. Even if there are no bounties, the Dragon's Den is certain to have some kind of outpost nearby, since they're bothering with even having waystations near places like Flowing Water."

River sprung into action, and within half an hour's time, he exited the periphery of the woods. Night and day blended together more in the deeper forest, and so he was pleasantly surprised to discover as he advanced that it was still early morning by the time he left the Primeval Forest.

He pulled out the map and held it open so Mister Black could try and orient them. Within a couple of moments, the old ghost had found their point of egress.

"We're quite a ways north of where we entered," Mister Black reported, "which for you is actually a good thing. You're going to want to head northwest from here to reach a town called Aureate Hill. The distance is about twice as far as Flowing Water is from the forest, but it's a much larger place."

River nodded and rolled the map back up, sliding it into its case. He then set off across the grasslands, maintaining a speed comparable to that which he had used on his way out to the Primeval Forest. Mister Black occasionally had him adjust his heading, but otherwise, the first hour of travel was uneventful.

"Hold up a second, River," Mister Black requested suddenly.

River halted his advance. "What's the problem?"

"Hmm... there's a nearby opportunity to test our theory, my young friend."

River frowned. "People?"

"Even better." Mister Black explained, "It's a caravan attached to the Dragon's Den. There's a pair of initial Meridian Circulation fellows leading it, but besides them, the detachment is trivial for you to handle. Given the breadth of your techniques, there shouldn't be very much they can do to resist if you pull off an ambush."

River nodded and took the heading from Mister Black. Within a couple of minutes he was within a range where his Mind's Eye could track the caravan, so he reduced his speed and activated the Dusk Aura Concealment, maneuvering in the tall grass with care.

The caravan was made up of about a dozen individuals manning a pair of wagons pulled by a breed of herdbeast River had never before seen. As Mister Black had reported, two of the individuals were of comparable cultivation to River's own, while the rest were warriors in the fifth- and sixth-grade Human Realm of physique tempering. One individual inside a wagon didn't even measure up to that standard.

The men of the caravan chatted with each other as the wagons trundled along the small dirt path they were on, but River was still out of a range to hear much more than that they were talking. He carefully narrowed the distance as he prepared to launch his assault.

"Any suggestions on cracking this nut, Mister Black?" River asked his ghostly mentor.

"Every person who remains standing is a threat, no matter their cultivation," Mister Black offered. "Never underestimate a warrior just because you outclass them; remember how you began, after all. Try and take out one of the Meridian Circulation experts early, but don't lose track of the Human Realm warriors to do it. The fewer of them still standing, the more you can focus on the other expert."

River murmured agreement as he set his sights on one of the experts. Drawing in a breath, he prepared a Blood Arrow and drew even closer. Experience in using the Blood Arrow had taught him that it was not an accurate ability to use at an extreme distance but remained very effective at medium range.

He released the projectile as he exhaled. The crimson shaft shot straight through the man's throat before hitting the wagon wall behind him and turning into a splatter of blood. The man clutched at his throat as the surrounding warriors shouted and drew their weapons.

"Protect the miss!" the remaining Meridian Circulation expert shouted, and half the men closed in tightly around the wagon containing the weakest person in the caravan. The remaining warriors frantically looked around, seeking the source of the attack.

Maintaining his Dusk Aura Concealment, River prepared some more Blood Arrows. He wouldn't be able to remain hidden long, but he would take out as many of the lesser warriors as he could before losing that advantage.

Observing silently, his ghostly mentor wondered how the youth would feel if he knew the caravan had absolutely no connection with the Dragon's Den.