Time slowly went by in the genius camp. The geniuses spent all their time training together with the captains, learning survivability and about the different Fierce Beasts and Primordial Beasts that they might encounter.
When they had spare time, they would be either at the training ground practicing their skills, challenging one another to gain better cultivation resources, or spending these resources to buy martial arts.
Some bought raw materials, but sparingly, as they wanted to save up their points for martial arts techniques.
Although the families had a few techniques that were outstanding and their younger generation had learned one or two of these skills, it was nothing compared to the allure of a Profound or a Superior martial arts technique.
Having one more ability was the same as having more versatility in battle situations, which made it easier for one to survive.
Xue Wei was different. He did not find any interest in the martial art skills because he had gotten quite a few from the Heritage Ring that his uncle had left behind for him.
As a result, he spent all his points on raw materials. He soon found that although he was ranked lowest of all in the entire group, his cultivation base was skyrocketing due to the assistance of the herbs he had purchased with the contribution points.
Although he could gain more points if he challenged someone above him, he had no urge to do so. Currently, he had plenty of points, and he got more every month. It was enough to sustain his use of herbs, and challenging the other geniuses was something he would rather avoid for a certain reason.
Xue Wei had realized that the more he fought, the harder it was to keep the sudden urge to kill at bay.
The more he fought, the more it broke out, and it was starting to change his entire view of society and other people.
Xue Wei had always been a gentle person. He wanted the best for his dear ones, and although he did not care about the others, he was not so cold-blooded as to wish that they would die.
Unfortunately, things were changing within him. When he encountered someone who was annoying him, that could be someone who was slow in the dining hall queue, or someone who bumped into him when they were walking in the city of tents, then an urge to kill them would flare up within his body. On top of that, the urge was so strong that he had to use every last iota of his willpower to extinguish it again.
He could feel the killing intent smoldering within him – it was changing him, and it was making him feel worried and a little scared of himself. Was he trustworthy?
While Xue Wei pondered this, he also knew that these feelings should be easier to control if he grew stronger, so he threw himself and all his focus into cultivating and enhancing his strength.
Xue Wei was not the only one who was giving it their all; everyone in the Genius Camp was training hard, and slowly the months went by.
After two months, Xue Wei had managed to break into the second layer of the Earth Warrior rank. After another three months, he had reached the third layer. Another three months following this and he was amongst the seven fourth layer Earth Warriors in the entire camp.
Xue Wei was still at the bottom of the rankings at his level but everyone in the entire camp considered him the strongest. When he was a one layer Earth Warrior, he had been capable of killing a third layer Earth Warrior, so how absurd was his strength now?
Ever since back then when he was a first layer Earth Warrior and fought multiple times in a row in the arena, Xue Wei had not fought against any living being. No one was silly enough to find faults or problems with him either, and he had not joined the arena again.
The summer had turned to fall; fall had turned to winter; and winter had turned to spring. Xue Wei had almost been at the camp for a full year, and during all this time he had soaked in all the knowledge related to survival on the battlefield from the captains.
He had spent many days in front of the Black Gold dummies training his martial art techniques and had managed to perfect all the abilities he had received from his Heritage Ring.
He had already perfected the Seed of Mirage, Kick of Forgotten Kings, and Mind Infestation earlier, but he had also managed to learn and perfect the Arcane Fist and even gained an understanding of the Heart of Fire.
Every time he became stronger, he would also spend time focusing on his old skills – the Forbidden Rush movement technique, the Shattering Mountain Palm, and the Azure Light Finger – and ensure that they properly scaled with his strength, optimizing the usage of said strength.
Although it had almost been a year since the fight against the criminals in the arena, Xue Wei’s title as the Crimson Devil had stuck, and sometimes people would lament about how magnificent and bloody his fighting had been.
Every time someone was in the arena, they would be compared to the Crimson Devil. If someone claimed to be the strongest, they would be reminded that the Crimson Devil existed, and they would quickly stop.
Xue Wei was aware of this fact, but he said nothing about it. He simply did not care about how the others viewed him.
During this year, Xue Wei had often gone to visit Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu. Both of them were in the ninth layer Ordinary Warrior camp, unable to break through to the Earth Warrior rank. And although Xue Wei sometimes gave them some of his medicinal plants, they still were far from their breakthrough.
In the Genius Camp, Xue Wei was a loner. He did not do anything to start a friendship with any of the other young geniuses, and the others felt he was unapproachable, making it impossible to connect with him.
Many of them had been told to try and reel him in, become friends with him, or at least make him owe them a favor so that they could use him, or his uncle, in the future.
Unfortunately, everyone who tried was met with an ice-cold look in Xue Wei's eyes and an unapproachable attitude. It was simply impossible to become friendly with him, and none of them were as thick-skinned as Shen Mu had been and clung to him no matter how grumpy he was.
"These people are not interested in me," Xue Wei sighed to himself and shook his head. "What they want is the power my uncle possesses and the potential I am showing. I do not wish to be someone else's tool, and even less do I wish to become a burden to Uncle. Although I might be a little lonely, I would rather be lonely than succumb to these fake people!"
Having reached this conclusion, Xue Wei once more focused fully on cultivating. Like this, the year eventually passed.
The summer soon arrived, and with the summer everyone gathered at the fields outside the camp. Here, the commander looked at the nine thousand geniuses that had remained alive.
One thousand and seventy-four had died during this year in the Genius Camp; they had all died from fighting in the arena. Although the majority had managed to survive the arena battles, a few had not been that lucky.
"This is the end of our recruitment camp!" the commander announced with a strong voice that spread across the entire area. "You have spent some time learning how to survive. You have learned about Primordial and Fierce Beasts! You have fought bravely in the arena battles, a place where you have also lost comrades. This was the place where you all were to build friendships, and you have now become a strong battalion."
"But this is just the beginning!" the commander spoke, and everyone was silent as they listened to his words. "You will now be placed in groups of five. The five in these groups will be brothers and sisters!! Your family, and those you can entrust with your lives!"
"In a battle, you will fight side by side with these four other people, and you will be willing to trade your life for theirs!"
"Fight as brothers, fight like sisters, fight as a family. Don't let anyone injure the dear ones around you!"
"You will be given three days of spare time. After these three days have come to an end, you are to depart the capital together with General Xiang. The Primordial Beasts never hesitate to fight us, and the beast hordes are increasing. You will be needed to fight together with last year's genius camp at the Northern Taiga!"
Xue Wei felt a sudden rush of emotions within him. He came from the Northern Taiga, a small town called Lingyun town. Maybe it was even possible for him to return to his birthplace and see what it was like this day today? .
Could it help him regain his memories? Could it perhaps allow for him to feel like a complete person again? He did not know, but he had some hope.
However, now was not the time to think about it. The commander started calling out the names of the groups that were teamed together, and Xue Wei was amongst the middle of the people that were called out.
He found himself in a group of five, where two were one layer Earth Warriors, one was a two-layer Earth Warrior, and the last was a three-layer Earth Warrior.
The third layer Earth Warrior was named Tie Haolong; the second layer Earth Warrior was a woman named Song Yuyan. The two one layer Earth Warriors were named Xiao Jie and Gu Dixing.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Tie Haolong spoke with a smile on his lips, and he extended his hand to greet all of them.
He was a head taller than Xue Wei; his hair was tied on top of his head with an elegant coiled dragon hairpin. He had two sharp eyebrows that resembled swords, and his eyes were clear and sharp. His facial features were pleasant to look at, and his lips were arched in a pleasant smile.
Tie Haolong was dressed in a beautiful sky blue robe that was made from Fierce Beast silk. It was adorned with silver embroideries of clouds. His hand, which he had extended to greet them all, was cool like porcelain, the skin was pale and beautiful.
All in all, Tie Haolong was very pleasing to the eye. He was a young master of the capital.
Song Yuyan had blushed slightly when she shook Tie Haolong's hand, and she nodded her head as she introduced herself.
She could be considered pretty, but Xue Wei, who was a friend of Luo Zhirou, found her a little lacking. She was not ugly, and she had some features that made her cute, but she was not a country-toppling beauty.
Fortunately, she was a second layer Earth Warrior, and this alone showed that she was well above the average genius in the Genius Camp. One should not underestimate her because of her somewhat ordinary appearance.
She too was wearing a dress made from Fierce Beast silk, and her colors were purple. She had a beautiful hairpin in her hair that accentuated her beautiful eyes.
Xiao Jie and Gu Dixing both introduced themselves as well. Xiao Jie wore clothes made of hide from a Fierce Beast. He was the biggest of them all, his body bursting with energy, and he had swelling muscles.
He was also the only one in their group who had short hair. His eyes were wild, and a grin was spread across his lips. He could not remove his eyes from Song Yuyan.
The final person in the group was Gu Dixing. He was a quiet person, and the only one in the group who did not wear clothes made from a Fierce Beast.
He was a commoner who had outstanding talent, and his biggest wish was to become a guard of one of the major families as soon as he had managed to survive the military time.
Having introduced themselves, all four turned to look at Xue Wei with expectant eyes. They were excited to hear the Crimson Devil introduce himself.