"War?" Ja Sun's eyes glowed like bright torches as Ah Yin looked away while explaining the situation. She had an ominous feeling and Ja Sun confirmed it by saying— "Let's go to war!"
"Although it is said that no other faction will participate, there will be members from around the continent acting for their own interests. Powerful spirit masters. The kind that will easily capture you and send you to spirit hall for a 10000-year-old spirit ring the moment they recognize you."
"Do you know when the small skirmishes will turn into an actual war?" Ja Sun inquired.
"What do you mean?" Ah Yin frowned.
"War... doesn't just mean collecting men and women and throwing them in front of each other. There are too many considerations in wars. Aside from direct factors that affect the wars, the indirect factors affecting the economy must be kept in mind, too... or am I wrong?" This was the first time Ja Sun had heard of a war on the continent so he didn't particularly know how this event is handled.
Even Ah Yin shook her head slightly, "Even I don't know."
"Did you buy some masks?" Ja Sun inquired and Ah Yin nodded.
With a thought and sliver of spirit energy, she pulled out eleven oval masks with various colors and carvings on them.
Out of all the masks, there was only one that suited his black battle robes. A simple black mask carved out of the devil tree's wood but it didn't have any spirituality. The sections of the eyes were bordered by white marking.
Taking the mask and trying it on, Ja Sun suddenly looked towards Ah Yin with an intensity she had never felt before. His green eyes locked with her blue eyes as he questioned her calmly, "How do I look?"
"Pathetic."
An instant reply.
"Hmm, that means good. With how quickly you replied, your praise may even mean that I look quite the dashing figure," Ja Sun mumbled before taking it off.
"Thanks, I'll keep this one."
"Why do you even want a mask?"
"Even if others identify the martial soul on my hand, I'll be fine as long as my face is protected. After all, the bounty from spirit hall only displays my image when I was 6-year-old. Now, if I promptly cover my hands if the situation gets too serious and remove the mask then I should be fine."
"This is based on the fact that Spirit Hall won't send members with the cultivation of Spirit Sage or higher to chase after you."
"Yes," Ja Sun smiled. He wasn't planning to go out of his way and his life more difficult than it already is but in case he needs to act, he can keep his face hidden and escape. Over the last five months, the mother-son human-tongue owl had found three more hidden spots but they were either too small or too steep. Their current spot with the naturally formed pool of poison and antidote in the form of smoke is still the greatest hidden spot.
"Hey, you know about the four clans more than me. Do you think they will send members after they figure out that their members died?"
"I don't know about the other three clans but the Strength Clan is the most overbearing in this aspect. I have heard the stories— beat the child, and the father will return. Beat the father and the grandfather will come knocking."
Ah Yin shook her head slightly, "About the rest... they should at least try to investigate after they note the absence of these members. Now, the question is how important were these four individuals."
"Given that they were Spirit Ancestors, I'd say that their roles would definitely be missed after a period."
"Let's cultivate before we will go and find you your second spirit ring," Ah Yin changed the subject while Ja Sun nodded. It would take Ah Yin a few days to note the rise in his spirit energy. He was planning to wait until then before giving the excuse that he found a spirit beast on his own.
---
"There's a Golden Deer rubbing its body against your legs. How about this one?"
"No. Too dainty."
---
"There's a moonlight eagle on the top of your head. Even if it isn't particularly powerful during the day, its strength is twice the ordinary 100-year-old spirit beasts."
"No... what do you want me to do after having twice the strength at night, huh, Ah Yin?"
---
"The silver-eyed raccoon is one of the best illusionists in the lower realm of spirit beasts."
"I like green eyes."
---
It would seem that the forest was filled with various beasts that have at least one attribute matching with Ja Sun but he would leave an excuse every time. His excuses were reasonable at first but later, they were pure nonsense, and realizing that Ja Sun was stalling for time, Ah Yin finally confronted him. Even she was at the limits of her tolerance.
Ah Yin's stomp actually caused her heels to completely dig into the ground as she cornered Ja Sun and inquired with a cold expression.
"Why are you wasting my and your time? There were spirit beasts compatible with you almost every day. What is happening?"
Stretching his wrist towards Ah Yin, Ja Sun smiled mischievously, "Feel my spirit energy."
With a frown, Ah Yin caught Ja Sun's wrist but this time, she wasn't as gentle as she had been all this time. In fact, her grip was comparable to iron shackles. Closing her eyes, Ah Yin sent a wisp of spirit energy and her eyes instantly snapped open in shock.
"You broke through?! When? And why is your spirit rank 25 already?"
Smilingly, Ja Sun lied, "I found an extremely compatible spirit beast during the night once you left. Of course, I consoled it and absorbed its spirit ring. Not only was it close to the 1000-year mark, but it also left me with a burst of spirit energy. Of course, I broke through into rank 25."
Ah Yin's expression turned dark as she inquired, "Then why didn't you tell me?"
"You looked so excited. Of course, I couldn't stop you," Ja Sun snickered.
Letting go of Ja Sun's wrist, Ah Yin spat coldly, "We cultivate."
"And then training! Don't forget training. I have to move my body or I'll feel weird!" Ja Sun added hastily as Ah Yin only snorted.
---
For Ja Sun, his life couldn't be more peaceful at this point. Four more months had passed and he continued to cultivate, train, and fly with the mother-son owls once Ah Yin left. Probably, the greatest change is already the fact that Ah Yin wouldn't take Caihong with her every other day and let him stay with his mother. Four months, however, wasn't long enough for Ja Sun to compete with the owls in terms of skills and maneuverability.
Unlike the Mental Acupuncture Technique which even reached the sixth level after it brought untold pain, the Revitalized Blood Qi Art and the Fiery Golden Pupils were still stagnated at the fourth level and non-achievement respectively. The speed of his mental cultivation itself placed the Mental Acupuncture Technique to a high level when compared to Revitalized Blood Qi Art and the Fiery Golden Pupils.
"Alright. I will leave tomorrow to find a spirit ring for myself," Ah Yin exhaled deeply and slowly opened her eyes. There was a dangerous flash in her eyes as her body exuded spiritual pressure.
"If I come with you, maybe the spirit beast might sacrifice itself," Ja Sun smiled as Ah Yin's lips twitched.
"No need for sacrifices," she scoffed lightly and stood up. She has reached rank 50 last month and stayed in the realm to stabilize herself first.
"Well, don't keep me waiting for too long or I might leave," Ja Sun snickered as Ah Yin glanced towards Caihong before shaking her head.
"That indeed would be a shame," Ah Yin looked towards Ja Sun and smiled lightly, "But I would return earlier than you expect."
"100 coins say that you will take longer than a week," Ja Sun shrugged.
"A bet?" Ah Yin looked thoughtful, "Fine. But no money. How about... a dare?"
"Ooh, what do you have in mind?" Ja Sun inquired.
"If I return before a week, you finally call Caihong by the name I want. What about you?"
"Hmm," Ja Sun fell silent as he glanced over at Ah Yin's body. More than ten months had passed and nothing had changed even now. Feeling his stare, Ah Yin narrowed her eyes but surprisingly, Ja Sun snickered and spoke up, "If you take longer than a week, you will tell me how you got so good at cutting hair."
Ah Yin fell stunned before she snorted a chuckle.
"Deal."
Both of them smiled before Ah Yin felt as Ja Sun took a deep breath and lied on his mattress. Over the months, the hidden cave was quite furnished already. Ja Sun still went out to take care of his business since he didn't want to pollute one of the coolest basements ever.
*Hoot*
"She... left... hand up down?" Olivia flew around the moment she woke up as her feathers looked more vibrant. On the other hand, Caihong was relatively lazy and still needed more rest than Olivia.
"Shut up," Ja Sun snorted and lied on his side.
"No... I will talk... hoot!" She flew and perched on the crystal before flying into the exit of the cave.
"Two months remaining. After that, I'm not gonna go for such a long-ass mission again!" Ja Sun growled in frustration. He loved creating missions and if it wasn't for the rewards being S-ranked, he would have long given up and failed in the mission.
Soon, Ja Sun fell into a deep sleep.
---
*Boom*
The ceiling of the cave shuddered as the large pillar in the middle of the poisonous pond let out crackling noise.
"Danger!"
"Danger!"
The two owls instantly hooted loudly and flew around Ja Sun, making him grunt in annoyance as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Instinctively, he wore his spirit enhancement and looked towards the ceiling. He heard another muffled strike that caused the ground to shake and he wore his mask.
Storing his mattress, Ja Sun crawled out of the exit and peeked his head out of the roots.
*Chirp*
*Chirp*
Small beasts were running in front of Ja Sun as the loud crackle rung again.
As he exited, the two owls instantly fled while Ja Sun looked in the direction of the sound. It was close to the hollow hill.
'Sure, a crisis strikes the next day after my strongest partner leaves,' Ja Sun sighed and climbed up the hill.
*Thud*
A panicked bunny crashed into him before running off. All the small animals seemed extremely fearful and even Ja Sun started to feel it.
The radiating bloodlust.
"Hmm... seems like rookie numbers," Ja Sun yawned and continued to make his way through the hill. Making sure to keep himself hidden, Ja Sun saw a completely ruined portion of the forest where a figure continued to chase a rather strange creature. Of course, Ja Sun happened to know this creature.
'Violet... and who's that dangerous chick behind her?'
The woman behind Violet wore crimson battle robes that curved around her comely figure. With her pitch-black hair pulled back into a ponytail, the woman's spirit enhancement revealed crimson scales close to her eyes, and her eyes yellowed out. Meanwhile, both of her hands were covered in thick red scales while her knuckles had short dark spikes stretched out.
Meanwhile, four halos rotated around her body. Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple.
A Spirit Ancestor strong enough to single-handedly pressure Violet. Though not strong, Violet does have human-level intellect which means she knows how to escape and she can't do that even now.
Violet suddenly shot two rays of light from her eyes, however, the woman behind her instantly smashed her fists into the ground, causing a large piece of rock to tear out due to the pressure and shock. The moment the light landed on the rock, it was covered in another layer of the rocky exterior while Violet's expression turned even more depressed.
What truly pressurized her wasn't the strength of the beast chasing her.
'The oozing killing intent, huh. It is probably affecting Violet's decision-making,' Ja Sun grew more interested and continued to watch as the woman wouldn't let Violet escape into the inner region of the forest. But she also couldn't corner Violet since her speed was extraordinary amongst serpents and her movement including trees, rocks, and even cliffs as terrain.
"That woman needs a training bra..." Ja Sun finally concluded. That much jiggle is physically dangerous but recalling that Violet was inherently different than humans, such wear and tear might not apply to her at all.
"Perverted beast! Meet your end!" The woman behind Violet roared. Instantly, her purple spirit ring glowed as the phantom of an extremely cruel, crimson-scaled dragon let out a silent roar and the area around the woman shook violently.
Blood leaked from Violet's ears but she continued to evade. While conscious for 23 years, her body had accumulated fighting experience of thousand years! This combination made her extremely versatile and dangerously calm in tough situations despite being suppressed by the bloodlust of her opponents.
Behind the woman, many spirit beasts fell. Most of them were hundred-year-old and even more were ten-year-old.
'Resources!' Ja Sun's eyes shone brilliantly as he followed the duo. The Bright Goddess Butterfly continued to flash around, absorbing 1% cultivation from the spirit rings. There was no way she could reach ten-thousand-year-old even if she absorbed cultivation from a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts but Ja Sun didn't feel the need to waste them. The rings would disappear in a few minutes, after all.
"Stop!" The woman shouted
"You don't need to be a scholar to understand— I won't stop!" Violet hissed, baring her sharp teeth before spraying a cloud of venom.
'4th Skill: Fire Dragon's Roar!'
The phantom of the fire dragon appeared behind the woman and it let out a bloody roar once again. The shock blowing away the poisonous mist when suddenly, the woman was shocked to face the brilliant rays of light almost touching her.
"Hmph!" She punched at the light and her first spirit ring glowed, which covered her draconic claws in flames.
*Trk*
The flames turned into stone and the woman smashed her fist against a tree, breaking apart the rocky crust to reveal her unscathed fists.
Violet felt expended. She could only use the eye of medusa three times a day and she had already wasted two chances. Her spirit energy was heavily depleted and even with her agility, she felt that she could only last for a few minutes at best.
Aggrieved, Violet continued to move through the woods while the woman behind her continued to break through them. Further behind them was a youth following cautiously and a butterfly settling on every spirit ring on her path, even ten-year ones.
The woman following Violet already had her eyes reddened in rage as she raised her hand. A ball of fire condensed over her palm which she threw towards Violet and the Lamia's expression changed. Her body moved to the left but the moment the ball of fire fell, it exploded and instantly covered a large area in flame.
Took by surprise, Violet shrieked loudly as her tail was caught on flames. Meanwhile, the woman smirked and had an easier time chasing the beast.
'Should I save her? Man... what a mission I would have. At least, A-rank. The raw power of this woman is way more than Ah Yin. And she attacks relentlessly. The moment you're caught, it's game over...
But it would be such a shame that a girl like Violet will die before resolving her issue. A beast with human mutation... what kind of bloodline would she have?'
Ja Sun called the Bright Goddess Butterfly back and she flashed through the middle of his forehead.
Ja Sun's figure shot towards the woman. Sensing something, the woman's face snapped towards Ja Sun's direction and without speaking anything, she stepped and changed her direction, and clawed towards Ja Sun.
Surprised by the sudden loss of mental burden, Violet looked back and found the woman fighting with a black-clothed youth with silver hair and a black mask over his face. Yet, Violet knew who he was and without thinking further, she herself flanked the violent woman with the Dragon Martial Soul.
"Screw off!" She growled. Once again, the large phantom of a fire dragon appeared behind her and roared. The area around the woman was messed up and Ja Sun was instantly forced back by a massive momentum which made his ears ring and vision only the slightest bit dizzy.
'I thought the silent roar was a mental attack...' Ja Sun jumped up the tree to dodge the claw tearing towards him, 'But it's a sound type attack... vibrations.'
His speed grew and his movement suddenly became overbearing as his own talons stretched out and struck the woman from behind after he stepped down the tree. A white light covered his talons and before he even clawed the woman's raised guard, she felt her arms tremble slightly as a force already struck her even before Ja Sun's palm reached her.
The third and final level of the Gentle Palm Technique is to finally control the shock force and use it outside the body. The control and level this stage of the technique can reach depend entirely on the user.
"Hmph!"
'Second Spirit Skill: Fire Lord's Crunch.'
Flames rose from the woman's body and turned into a giant muzzle with dangerous teeth fashioned out of flames chomping towards Ja Sun.
A ray of light instantly struck the skill and the flaming muzzle of the dragon turned into a rock and covered by the skill herself, the woman was locked down for a moment.
*Pat*
Ja Sun's talons gently patted the location where the woman's head would be through the rocky exterior.
*Crash*
Large cracks spread throughout the petrified skill and the body of the woman shot backward.
Blood oozed from her lips and she glared in the direction of the Lamia who had her body coiled around the trunk of a tree.
"I'll remember this!" She spat a globule of blood before sneering towards Ja Sun's direction, "Let's see you defending against the true experts of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan next!"
The moment she uttered those words, all her temper was overpowered by a silent, creeping breath. She wasn't in the forest anymore, or at least, she thought she wasn't. Standing over an ever-expansive pool of blood, she found herself scared. There was nothing else. No weapons. No attacks. But just a calm surface of a bloody ocean.
How many corpses lie underneath?— is what she was forced to realize. A being with bloodlust recognizes the similar ability. The ability that rises not from spirit energy or mental energy— but the experience in slaughter.
*Thud*
'In face of bloodlust, you either make it or you don't. There is no middle ground,' Ja Sun sighed. He had revealed his killing intent to Ah Yin but aside from her extraordinary mind, her domain also seemed to suppress such exotic abilities.
"You... take it off," Ja Sun pointed towards the woman's ring.
The woman collapsed on her knees had cold sweat flowing out of her forehead. Revealing deep fear towards the masked man in front of her, she failed to respond at all.
Step...
Step...
Ja Sun began to step forward while he prepared ten mental needles. The woman had survived the shock through her head which revealed her extraordinary constitution. And Ja Sun really wanted to end it quickly. The needles shot towards the woman's direction while she continued to stutter— Clan, clan.
"Aaagghhhhh!"
Clutching her head, she felt her vision go dizzy and Ja Sun's claw patted the woman's cheek once again.
This time, she instantly fell unconscious.
"T-thank you..." Violet slowly slithered towards Ja Sun. Her body still shuddering due to the cold chill the moment Ja Sun revealed his bloodlust.
"Eh, no problem," Ja Sun smiled and crouched over the woman before pulling the black ring out. Storing the storage essence tool in his wristband, Ja Sun looked over at Violet, "This is your second time. What happened now? She didn't seem to want to capture you," Ja Sun inquired while dragging the woman over to one of the trees.
"I... well, I'm want to know more about humans. Since I have a human mutation, maybe the answer for my bottleneck is in the human civilization so I always try my luck by finding humans. Most of the time, it ends up fatal."
***
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