Chapter 25 – Training ‘Til The Limits
Ye Qingyu carefully observed the surrounding terrain.
The surrounding terrain could be classified as being fairly open, with boulders and rocks scattered about. Strange unknown trees were sparsely grown on top of the thorny grey grass, stretching out into the distance…
There was a surrounding buzz of mosquitoes, carrying with it a fishy, bloody smell.
From the distance, one was able to see the faces of the ugly jackals devouring a half rotten corpse, surrounded by flies. It would occasionally glance at the group, growling and revealing their bloody fangs. The attitude of these jackals was definitely not friendly.
Death was something that could happen anytime in this wilderness.
This was the wilderness.
Death and killing, are the laws that govern this place.
Compared to the Deer City that was wrapped in flowers and silk, the atmosphere here was the true reality behind this world.
“I have a suggestion. I think we need to work together to overcome the danger in this place, so we can successfully complete the wilderness training!” Yan Xingtian who had remained silent throughout slowly opened his mouth. His tone had a determination that inspired trust in people.
This suggestion received the agreement of part of the group.
But the other leader of this group, Qin Wushuang, only faintly smiled. He did not say anything, but turned around and walked off into the wilderness. His robe drifted about, his black hair flying around in the wind. There was an indescribable sense of confidence and ease emitting from him…
The next instant, there were people behind Qin Wushuang, automatically following him.
Within this following were Song Qingluo, Liu Lei, and several other students from noble families. They obviously long regarded Qin Wushuang as their leader, not even sparing a glance for Yan Xingtian.
“Haha, a bunch of commoner scraps. What kind of people are you, to want to work together with us?” This noble young student gave Yan Xingtian a glare, his face filled with contempt and disdain. He spat a mouthful of saliva on the floor and walked away.
“You…”
A student that stood beside Yan Xingtian could not endure this. Enraged, he was about to rush forward.
But the expression on Yan Xingtian face was calm, without even the slightest trace of anger or resentment. He held the student beside him back, lightly shaking his head.
“Junior Brother Ye, I wonder what your plans are?” Yan Xingtian gestured to Ye Qingyu, saying, “Do you want to act together with us?”
Ye Qingyu thought for a while, then shook his head. “I’m more suited to acting alone. I won’t bother you guys, thank you, Senior Brother Yan for your kind intentions.
“Ye Qingyu, what does this mean? You are also a commoner student, and you reject senior brother Yan?” The dark and thin student that had been suppressed by Yan Xingtian angrily said, “You think that your talent is so good that you can treat everyone with a scowling face? Hmph, Senior Brother Yan only wanted to protect you. Look at your cultivation, its only at the second stage of the ordinary martial stage. If you encounter danger, then you won’t fare well!””
The other students’ gaze when they looked at Ye Qingyu were also filled with dissatisfaction.
Yan Xingtian held up his hands, signaling for everyone to be calm. He said, “Junior Brother Ye has his own plans. I only ask that you be careful and don’t go too far. If you encounter danger, you can set off the signal flares and me and the others will quickly come to your aid.”
“Thank you.” Ye Qingyu cupped his hands in thanks, then turned and walked away in a north-west direction.
Yan Xingtian lightly sighed, then suddenly thought of something. He said, “Junior brother Ye?”
“Hm?” Ye Qingyu turned back.
“You have to be careful of… Liu Lei,” Yan Xingtian said in a suppressed, low voice.
Ye Qingyu was startled, then thankfully nodded his head. “Thank you, Senior Brother Yan, I know what to do.”
Yan Xingtian also nodded his head, not saying anything else. He led the other eight students, walking off towards the north.
This commoner genius who would never smile, had quite clearly become the center and leader of many commoners. In this academy dominated by the wealthy and the nobles, the commoners would huddle together, holding each other for warmth.
Within the history of White Deer Academy, there had been a significant number of exceptional commoners that went on to become famed throughout the entire Snow Country. This was one of the reasons why commoners were still permitted to enter White Deer Academy.
Yan Xingtian had long been recognized as the future leader of the commoners.
It was rumoured that the instant he entered the academy, he attracted the attention and support of many significant members of this demographic.
Since the deterioration of the Ye family, Ye Qingyu could also be counted as a commoner.
But he did not want to waste his precious time, on the conflict between commoners and nobles. He did not automatically get close with the commoner organizations, and in this wilderness training, he also did not want to have too much interactions with either of the groups.
He had long been accustomed to being lonely, so he preferred acting by himself.
……
Walking on the deserted wilderness, Ye Qingyu could feel a surge of excitement building within him.
It was a kind of feeling that made you think you can dive freely in the ocean and soar at will in the sky.
A two-meter green backed wolf followed behind him for several hundred of meters. Perhaps finally sensing that this youth did not pose much of a threat, the green backed wolf decided to attack. As quick as lighting, it pounced towards the back of Ye Qingyu!
The smell of blood emitted from his gaping, bloody mouth.
The claws of the wolf could easily crush boulders.
Ye Qingyu only took a small sidestep, backhanding the wolf with a punch.
The enormous force created a boom-like sound. The head and the claws of the green backed wolf exploded immediately, blood and bone scattering everywhere. The broken body sailed away, not even having the time to cry out.
“This is only a normal wild beast. It does not have any [endowment bones], and its fur is not worth money. From my perspective, it is worthless!”
Ye Qingyu flicked through a book that he obtained from the academy, [The Encyclopedia of Dangerous Things in the Arctic Plains]. On it was detailed information regarding different wild and demonic beasts.
A creature like the green backed wolf had strength comparable to a practitioner at the muscle stage of the ordinary martial stage. In front of Ye Qingyu, it really could not even withstand a single blow.
Ye Qingyu continued walking east for an hour, repeatedly being attacked by tens of different wild beasts and all being easily resolved by him.
Not long after.
In front of him, came the sound of the roaring water.
A river that was over a thousand meters wide appeared in front of Ye Qingyu, like a dragon coiling about on the Arctic plains. The magnificent sounds of the rumbling water thundered through the air, the air surging with heavy mist from the crashing of the river!
“Boundless river, one of the three great rivers of the Arctic plain. It flows for over ten thousand miles, and is one of the most important sources of water for the Arctic plains… Haha, the next several days will be passed here.” There was a faint smile on Ye Qingyu’s face.
He sat on the shore of a small stone hill, observing in all directions. Using the encyclopedia, he recognized the name of this surging river.
Water was the source of life.
Where there was water, there would definitely be a large number of wild beasts that would appear.
This had always been Ye Qingyu’s aim. For him, the objective of wilderness training was not to just survive in the wild. It was to unceasingly battle and battle, constantly raising his strength, killing demonic beasts to obtain [endowment bones] and to obtain academic points when he returned.
Instead of searching passively for the beasts, it was better to guard a tree stump and wait for the rabbits to appear* by the river.
No matter the type of demonic beast, every day it had to come here to drink water. Only by acting then, would he be able to obtain a reward.
This kind of action, in the eyes of many people, would be seen as the actions of a crazy person.
Because, previously the academy had already strictly warned the students. Within the wilderness, a water source was a dangerous area that they must not go near. Once surrounded by wild beasts and demonic beasts that had lost all reasoning, even an expert of the Spirit spring stage, had the possibility of dying.
The actions of Ye Qingyu was extremely risky.
“However, before starting to hunt, I must first find an ideal place that I can attack and defend at the same time…” Ye Qingyu walked alongside the river, looking for a suitable place.
After walking approximately ten miles along the river, the red sun had already set, the sky gradually growing dark.
“Hm? This place, is not bad…”
Ye Qingyu was looking at a shoal in front of him that was comparatively calm and gentle. His eyes brightened. This shoal measured around hundreds of meters, with an open line of sight everywhere around. And, further on, was a strange stone forest** that stretch for several miles all the way to the lush vegetation. It was a place that was suitable for hiding, as well as for fleeing.
Ye Qingyu carefully considered, entering the stone forest to observe for a bit.
The ground was dry, with no sign of decaying vegetation. Therefore, the likelihood of there being poisonous insects were extremely low. To his surprise, under a weird looking stone, he discovered a relatively wide cave with two openings.
It was a perfect hunting spot.
Ye Qingyu settled at this cave.
……
Time quickly passed.
In the blink of an eye, two days had already passed.
Within these two days, Ye Qingyu was constantly in a role of both hunter and prey.
There were several times that he had chosen the wrong target and nearly lost his life. Being chased by powerful demonic beasts, only by hiding in the stone forest could he escape the danger that these beasts posed.
At this moment, Ye Qingyu encountered another target that was hard to deal with.
On the shallow riverside—
“Die!”
Ye Qingyu’s body was covered with blood, turning and punching the golden python’s head directly. It immediately caused the python to fall back, and using this opportunity, he quickly retreated to avoid being wrapped around by the golden python.
“Golden dragon python, a two-star demonic beast. Its venomous fluids are well known, and its specialty is constricting its prey and strangling it to death…” Information regarding the golden python quickly flashed through his mind.
Two-star demonic beasts had a battle ability comparable to a Spirit spring expert.
But the intelligence of beast was not high. Only by relying on its battle instinct, there was still a considerable difference between the beast and a true Spirit spring expert.
This was also one of the reasons that made Ye Qingyu dare to challenge it.
The other reason was that Ye Qingyu’s cultivation had already reached the fifth stage of the ordinary martial stage and he needed to cleanse his bone marrow of impurities. The technique that he was training in was the [Dragon stance], and the blood of this dragon python had an extremely beneficial effect on his training.
Ye Qingyu had already noticed this dragon python for over a day.
This python was extremely tyrannical around this piece of the river, as if it was the overlord of this piece of land. It had already appeared for quite a few times previously, entering the churning waters to hunt, evidently liking the taste of freshwater fish. After eating it’s full, it would lie on the beach, basking in the sun!
Through the battle of the dragon python with other creatures, Ye Qingyu had already estimated the highest battle strength of the dragon python. With this in mind, he had chosen to taken action today.
The strength of the dragon python was extremely high.
There were several times that Ye Qingyu were nearly constricted and strangled to death.
But only through fighting to your limits, till you were at the boundary between life and death, could you truly raise your power.
*Chinese idiom, meaning to wait idly for opportunities **Huh, you learn something new everyday. This is what the stone forest of China looks like.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Shilin_Stone_Forest_01.JPG