How did they all move so fast? Do they all have the ability to extend their sense?

Feeling truly weak in front of these men, Xing Kai also jumped up and readied his sword. By the time he had got into the defensive stance he had developed in the afternoon, arrows were already claiming lives.

All 7 men were throwing either javelins, or using their bows. Xing Kai's eyes raced across that bloody stretch of land, and saw the arrows covering strange black forms, while the black lethal javelins were staking the strange shadows straight into the ground.

Xing Kai could barely track the motion of the shadows as they raced out of the forest and into the clear battleground. The cries of pain and death revealed the enemy to Xing Kai first.

They were apes, snakes, panthers, boars...the flickering shadows were all wild beasts of the forest. They were normal beasts, not the blood beasts that could also cultivate and train their bodies.

The robust and oily black haired man placed his bow down, and with a growl jumped straight over the wall, and into the horde of beasts. The spear wielding man also rushed straight off the wall and into a mass of shadows. The two ordinary looking swords jumped over the wall, casually and opened a strange hatch in the wall. All of a sudden, groups of criminals rushed out screaming and crying.

The ordinary looking men ignored them and entered the fray, covering the holes in the wall with their flashing long swords.

No human enemies? Damn it...but I can still train and gain battle experience here

Xing Kai felt a little disappointed, but quickly reassured himself that this would be an important opportunity to train his skills. These beasts were not the fearsome half-descendants of the Primeval, so they could not cultivate, yet their strength was prodigious.

Xing Kai steadied himself and prepared to jump.

"Kid, you are not these beasts equal. Standing here and surviving the hallucination effect is enough of an achievement"

Xing Kai snapped his head back in the direction of the voice. One of the archers gave him a passing glance as he shot arrow after arrow into the dark. This one glance contained pressure and authority that Xing Kai suddenly wanted to kneel to.

The hallucinations? So this place has this kind of effect?

Xing Kai glared at the strip of land. Already he could make out bodies of beasts lying on the earth. During the day he had seen that the ground was littered with bodies and bones, so naturally the ground was saturated with blood.

That would explain the pressure this place exerted...it would also explain how the criminals had the courage to rush out into the battle. They had been driven insane, so they were welcoming their deaths.

This place is truly fearsome...this level of battle, and the constant deaths would surely not be an ordinary place.

Xing Kai looked over at the 3 archers, who unemotionally dealt out death to the waves of beasts. His hand tightened on the sword and with a surge of emotions in his chest, Xing Kai threw himself over the wall.

It's like they all say, cultivation is about challenging and defeating...there is no way I'm stopping at just defeating the hallucinations, I need to fight too

The archers called out to him as they fired rapidly, but Xing Kai was already washed in the noises of the battle, and would not hear them; the archers spared another quick glance at him, and then let him fend for himself.

Xing Kai landed quite deeply in the mud and pulp of flesh, and had to exert himself to pull his legs out of the sucking morass. He levelled his sword with his eyes, adopting the comfortable ready pose he had self-created during the afternoon.

A lean and fast shadow rushed straight to Xing Kai. It's eyes were ice blue, and had gleaming white fangs, which raced towards Xing Kai's throat. It was young panther.

It wants to kill me

Xing Kai felt the moments passing by slowly, as he jumped out of the way of the panther's attack. He swung the sword over his shoulder as he fell, with all his strength.

His blow grazed the panther, leaving a thin cut in it's silky fur, and it slide to stop by the wall. It turned to face Xing Kai, who had quickly steadied himself, but was suddenly encountering a red fist swinging towards his skull.

This is too close

Xing Kai ducked out of the swing, but was slammed into the ground by an ape's body. He felt a crushing force on his side and ribs, but managed to avoid any serious injuries, as he rolled away from the ape.

Xing Kai barely stood up, but had to meet the panther's second attack suddenly.

These beasts

Xing Kai cursed in his mind. His heart was hammering away in his chest, and anger welled up inside him. Blood lust rose up and filled his eyes, turning them a ruby red colour. The panther noticed this change in Xing Kai, but confidently continued its pounce.

Xing Kai met the attack head on, as he just managed to raise his sword and they both rolled into the ground. Xing Kai's back and arms were being clawed into a ragged state as the panther tumbled about Xing Kai. With Xing Kai's anger swelling, he pushed the panther away from him with all his strength.

He rolled to the side while the panther fell a mere few feet away. Its weight was far greater than it appeared by a considerable amount.

This is far harder than I expected

This was Xing Kai's first honest battle, without the element of surprise or the enemy underestimating him; it was favouring very poorly for him. Xing Kai wobbled to his feet and spat out a mouth full of metallic tasting blood.

A crushing blow struck Xing Kai's hip and sent him flying several meters into a pile of bodies.

I can't die like this, this is pathetic!

Xing Kai held back a howl of pain, and hoped that for the few seconds he was immobile on the ground, another beast wouldn't come and finish him. This was the sorry story of far too many people, their destiny simply didn't include them rising to glory, and they died early.

I survived

Xing Kai could feel the pain ebb away enough for him to begin moving. For a few seconds he was spared death.

Suddenly a ferocious bite, crunched into his shoulder and his own hot, red blood showered into the air, and the beast at his shoulders.

Xing Kai's heart slowed for an instant, his Heart's blood juddered. The deep, void-like soul fragment in Xing Kai's mind seethed and a tremendous flow of emotions crashed into Xing Kai's mind.

Xing Kai's anger rocketed upwards and he grabbed the panther by the neck and pulled it straight off, and it yowled in pain. Xing Kai's sword carrying arm was almost useless with the amount of damage done to his shoulder.

Yet with a enraged growl, not losing out to any of the beasts in his animalistic cry, he raised his arm, with sword in hand and slashed at the panther's throat, as he swung to the side. With blood shooting out of it's neck, it swung it's paws about desperately.

Suddenly the ape appeared directly above the panther, that lay over Xing Kai, and fell towards his chest.

DIE WITH ME

Xing Kai howled in his mind, and with immense anger and determination lifted his sword with his limp arm. The ape's fiery red eyes widened and it fell onto the raised sword.

The ape screeched and buried Xing Kai under its furry body, and pressed him straight into the mud. The panther bled out over his legs, while the ape was bleeding straight over his face, with the sword digging into Xing Kai's collarbone.

What a pathetic fail...seems my journey is cut short

Xing Kai was racked with pain, and suffocating under the weight of the bodies above him.

Xing Kai pushed the sword to the side, and all of a sudden a few drops of blood rolled down the hilt and straight into his skin. The blood went into his flesh, and into his arm's principal meridians, up towards his mind. There the blood was dragged before the soul fragment ring, and refined.

In a short moment the blood was miraculously refined and then sent down his Jingmai into his body, as a few small drops. These few drops were sent from the dark soul fragment ring, to nourish the body.

Wait the first layer, I need to use the first layer method

Xing Kai was shocked back into attention, and concentrated quickly to use his inner sense to try and direct the ape's refined Heart's blood. However he was far too slow and only a few dregs remained in his meridians, before he could he stop the blood from being absorbed by his flesh randomly.

Xing Kai cycled these dregs of refined blood through his Jingmai according to the method shown by the first layer manual. The blood was starting to seep into his Loumai, and then into his tissues in a ordered and balanced manner.

The Heart's blood healed his shoulder and hip significantly, and the heavenly, exquisite sensation, from his first time absorbing refined Heart's blood, permeated his body again.

His pain dulled, and his body felt vigour and power returning. Although a great deal of Heart's blood had randomly been absorbed by his tissues and tendons, his injuries had a greater demand for the refined blood, so they had recovered quite substantially before Xing Kai had begun cycling the dregs.

It works...I really must be blood cultivator

Xing Kai sighed in his heart, and his eyes moistened. He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and many doubts, but this was his first real success. He knew now that he had a path to becoming powerful...he could not see the light at the end of the tunnel...but he could feel a cool breeze, telling him an exit was ahead in the distance.

Xing Kai pushed the dead ape off his chest with effort, and sat upright. With a savage growl, Xing Kai pushed his sword into the panther's neck. The panther's Heart's blood came rushing out, up his sword and into his waiting hands.

As the blood rushed up his principle Jingmai, and was refined, Xing Kai was ready and waiting. As soon as the blood was released from the mighty soul fragment ring's bindings, Xing Kai directed the Heart's blood to follow the path of the first cycle of the first layer of early Blood condensing Stage.

The effects were incredible this time. His injuries healed far better, and more completely, leaving no imbalance in his healing. He felt his body fill with vigour and he could shrug off the fatigue and the pain that pressed him earlier. Although the effect and the heavenly, blissful sensations were not as powerful as when he refined human Heart's blood, by cycling it according to the first layer, the effects were not paltry.

I can really improve now...my path is set

Xing Kai grinned, but not with childish excitement, but with the same coldness and hardness as before. He pushed the panther off him legs, and stepped his way up the pile of bodies around him, looking to take advantage of the higher ground.

...no way...

All around Xing Kai there was not a single living beast in sight. The 4 elite militiamen on the ground had slaughtered the beasts with ease, and were no going about putting the criminals out of their misery. The ground was showered in arrows and the javelins created horrendous statues of the beasts, pinned in shape to the ground, as they ran or roared.

There death poses were very life-like, and created a strange tableau of the battle, that left Xing Kai in awe.

These men are truly elites

Seeing the carnage now, everything still and quiet, he could tell the full extent of the battle.

"HEY, THE BRAT LIVES"

One of the men shouted out and set off a round of cheering and laughter, as they went about collecting arrows and javelins. One by one, the standing dead beasts collapsed as the javelins were pulled out.

I am no where near their level...

Xing Kai did not feel disheartened but instead felt excited, and his passion soared. Seeing the men's strength, he knew he would be able to learn from them well. As for the forest wall, there was not one point he was unhappy about now. The glaring weakness in the wall, would become his opportunity to grow and would supply the resources he need, to become strong. He truly felt this was a perfect place to train, and that joining the militia was the perfect choice.

Xing Kai could train, learn and rest safely while experiencing intense battles with skilled cultivators.

Xing Kai stepped down the pile of beast bodies and looked around. He looked at the forest edge in the distance and felt more confident, but far more respectful as well. With the towns surrounded by forests and wild lands, he was certain that only the powerful could travel between them alone.

Xing Kai was not ready to leave the town. He was not even capable of it.

He wiped the blood of his blade and checked it for any chips and scratches. He was very meticulous about the care of his sword, as his life was dependant on it.

Their weapons are of top quality, far better than the stuff that us militiamen get...

Xing Kai was not jealous and he didn't covet their weapons. He would like a better one for himself, but he would not take theirs.

As he walked along back to the wall, he remembered that the men had killed some of the criminals, who had barely survived with harsh wounds.

It's a pity I couldn't get any human Heart's blood...that would be very effective

Xing Kai rather hoped that he could perhaps have killed one of the criminals in the fray, but he didn't go out of his way to hunt them down, and just jumped over the wall without aiming for them. Although, for power, he was willing to kill people, he didn't want to kill mindlessly. Even if they were criminals...

Perhaps I could have...

Xing Kai suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked around.

I could have taken their Heart's blood if I put them out of their misery, without having to actually have done the deed myself

Xing Kai kicked himself, and made sure to do the deed the next night, should their be criminals sentenced to the forest wall night watch. It would be free Heart's blood, with none of the burden of murder!

Xing Kai set off again towards the wooden wall.

The same for the beasts too. If I notice any beasts that aren't completely dead, I can absorb...

"...Crksht"

Xing Kai suddenly stopped and exclaimed. He sucked in a cold breath and looked around him.

Can I take dead beast's Heart's blood too? It can't have disappeared right?

Xing Kai felt his heart race and he looked around at he stretch of land covered in bodies.

Suddenly Xing Kai rushed towards a dead snake and pushed his sword into it.

With bated breath and sweaty palms Xing Kai watched as blood trickled out...and a few small drops of blood fly up the sword and into his hand. Defying all sense, the Heart's blood still travelled up Xing Kai's Jingmai and was refined by the soul fragment ring.

After refining the dead snake's Heart's blood, only a speck was left.

Only a tiny speck of blood remained after the powerful refining, but nevertheless Xing Kai cycled it in accordance with the first layer manual. His delight was dampened slightly however, when he noticed that the effectiveness of the refined blood was far reduced.

With such a small quantity of blood and of such weak strength, there was no noticeable improvement to Xing Kai's body.

But Xing Kai didn't stop. He quickly stabbed his sword into another beast and repeated the process. Thanks to the powerful soul fragment ring the process was very fast, and outwardly it appeared that Xing Kai was crazily stabbing all the beasts around him in fear.

"Hey brat, have a little more faith. We CAN actually kill a cat you know, no need to check"

The brash, powerful bodied man's voice rang out and all the other men roared in laughter. One of them had actually seen Xing Kai struggling against an ape, so he thought it was quite bemusing to see him checking that all the beasts were dead.

But the men didn't take offense, and let him do so, thinking that the young boy was insecure.

Xing Kai ignored their laughter and meticulously stabbed every single beast on the stretch of bloody earth. The men continued howling in laughter for a long time, while Xing Kai accumulated strength, as he tirelessly wandered around looking for more blood. In fact it suited Xing Kai that they thought he was being paranoid, as they wouldn't check to see what he was actually doing with their strange sense this way.

His status as a blood cultivator was far to dangerous for Xing Kai. Even his own friends had disliked features of cultivation that actually came from blood cultivators. Not that it bothered Xing Kai much at all.

With free resources like these to boost my strength, even if there were a million bodies and only a fraction of the rewards, I wouldn't stop until all the small rewards were in my hands...

With a cheerful smile suitable for Xing Kai's age, he wandered around alone collecting blood from dead men and slain beasts, in the night.