Chapter 88: The Meadow
Xue Wei was filled with righteous indignation and anger towards Chu Huiyin.
The longer he walked, the more upset he became. He was not only upset with Chu Huiyin, but he was also very upset with himself.
Giving up on his rational thoughts and allowing himself to let go of his sanity and use the dragonized arms to fight in a battle where he was surrounded by experts who knew very little about the different transformations of other cultivators was by no means a smart move.
A skill like the Azure Dragon Scripture, which aimed to imitate the most amazing beast of them all, the Azure Dragon, was easily misunderstood in the uneducated lens of the Heping Kingdom. Even in the center of the continent, people would be worried if they saw it.
"The bloodlust might be good for fighting," Xue Wei said through gritted teeth. His entire body was aching. The wounds, although no longer bleeding, were still deep and immensely painful.
"But even if it makes it so that I can fight better than others, I am also more likely to not think straight." Xue Wei sighed. "When I fight, I am to leave my bloodlust as the last means to protect myself. I will rely on my rational thoughts at all other times, and reserve the instincts as the final resort."
The battle Xue Wei had been in had changed him and his view of himself.
He never wanted to be just a frenzied killing machine. He did not want to let it all go. He wanted to be able to keep himself under control.
Xue Wei’s demeanor had changed. He was moving as if he had the entire world on his shoulders. He was listless and dispirited. He felt lost. Everything he had strived for had been lost in such a swift change of events, and now he was stuck in a hopeless situation where he did not know what his next step would be.
Xue Wei had his items with him in a bag. They had been on their way towards their military stations when the beast horde had surprised them, and thus they had all their things with them when they started fighting.
Xue Wei had been fighting with his bag on his back the entire time. When Chu Huiyin had grabbed him, the bag had remained on his back. Now that he was back on land again, free from Chu Huiyin, he looked at himself.
His robes were tattered and destroyed. His armor was not much better off. The spaulders had been punctured multiple places by Chu Huiyin’s sharp talons in her true form. Other cuts and tears had appeared in the collision with the trees and their branches.
Xue Wei sighed when he saw the state of his clothes. He reached into his bag to find a new set of clothes. He took out another set of clothes made from Fierce Beast Silk, but then he paused and hesitated before shaking his head and stuffing it into the bag again.
He then took out a set of black clothes that Manager Su had given him when he left Tiankong City.
These clothes were a lot less remarkable than the red robes he had been wearing in the capital. He was going to travel through the Kingdom of Heping, after all. If a rumor of some noble-born youngster wearing robes of Fierce Beast material were to spread, then the army could easily guess that it was him.
Xue Wei grimaced in pain as he changed his clothes from the robes to the clean black suit. Although a few scratches could still be seen on his face, all the serious wounds were now covered.
He could not help but lament slightly that he did not have a bamboo hat to cover his face, but he had to make do with what he had.
Xue Wei would have burnt the clothes to dust if he could, but these robes were made from a fire attributed Fierce Beast, and normal flames had no effect on them.
Since this was the case, Xue Wei just left the tattered and blood-stained clothes on the ground and started limping away from the tree under which he had found slight respite and shade for a short while.
The Qi continued to wander through his meridians, slowly making adjustments and improvements to his condition. It was nourishing his bones and organs, healing his fractures, and ensuring that his body would be even stronger than it had been before when he had fully recovered.
Previously, the Qi had only been in his meridians, but now it was passing over into his flesh, entering his organs, entering his bones, and simultaneously strengthening all parts of him.
If he were to survive, then he would have an even sturdier body than before. This sturdiness was not outwardly visible, but it was a bone-deep transformation that changed nothing about his slim and lean figure, instead making his bones as strong as jade.
Unfortunately, this was a process that would take quite some time. His body was exhausted, and his Qi, although initially vigorous, started revolving through his meridians at a gradually slowing pace. The wounds required an inordinate amount of Qi, so there was little left for everything else
Xue Wei shambled along on his journey for a few hours before he was forced to sit down and take a break. He simply had no more Qi in his body, no more energy to continue walking on, and the last few steps had been on sheer willpower, his body in such intense pain that each and every step caused his eyes to blacken.
Taking these final steps, Xue Wei decided to sit down. He knew that if he collapsed, it was highly likely that he would never awaken again. As such, his only possible option was to sit down and slowly absorb more energy from the heavens above.
Xue Wei had exited the forest and was now in a small meadow. He could hear the river not far away, and he could sense the dew in the air, descending and laying itself like beads of glass on the grass.
This meadow was empty of all traces of humans. In fact, ever since Chu Huiyin had dropped him above the forest, Xue Wei had seen no other living creature. The beasts avoided him; even the small bugs did so. Xue Wei started to feel as if he was the only living being in the entire universe.
The meadow that he had landed in had a small purple mist running through it, and Xue Wei felt comfortable as he was in it. The Qi in the air was denser than any other place he had been at, and he greedily absorbed all the energy that he could, feeling how he slowly was rejuvenated.
His body became lighter, and the wounds started to close rapidly. The speed with which his condition was improving was many times faster than it had been before; his fractured bones started to mend themselves, and the open flesh wounds on his body started to close at a visible speed.
Xue Wei was shocked. He knew that this was without a doubt not an inherent ability of his unique physique but rather the purple mist drifting through the meadow.
From a glance, if one did not look at the purple mist, one would think that it was an ordinary meadow, but the mist made it much more mysterious.
Xue Wei's Qi reservoir was being filled rapidly, his body was being enhanced, and even his meridians widened and became much more sturdy, able to transport a larger amount of Qi through his body.
Xue Wei stopped in the meadow for a full day, just sitting still and allowing for the energy to flow into his body in a steady stream.
"This is great!" Xue Wei felt relief. "If I stay in this meadow for a few days, I will be able to recover to my peak," he muttered to himself. Suddenly, right as he said that, he caught a glimpse of a massive beast that was looking at him from the surface of the river that was not too far away from him.
The moment the beast noticed his glance, it vanished without a trace. In that brief instance, Xue Wei estimated the creature’s rank to be around the Heavenly Warrior levels through his senses.
Xue Wei broke out into a cold sweat. Was this mysterious meadow the territory of this frightening beast he had caught a glimpse off? If it was, why would it allow him to stay here calmly and absorb the purple mist?
One has to know that the purple mist was a natural treasure of some kind; it was able to increase his body's innate talent and capabilities within just a day, and it also bolstered his Qi regeneration.
It was the ideal place for cultivation, but this purple mist–energy could not be unlimited. To share it with Xue Wei was absurd.
"I better not linger around," Xue Wei made a swift decision. He was not willing to take the risk of provoking the beast to attack him because he wanted a share of the pie. Although aware that this would prolong his period of convalescence, Xue Wei understood that his condition would be in a much better state than it had been a day prior before his arrival at the meadow.
Xue Wei saw a group of bamboos close by. Although he was in a hurry to leave, he decided to spend some time to create a bamboo hat that could hide his features while traveling towards the Northern Taiga.
Although he had not met any humans so far, he was not so naive as to think that it was possible to get to the Northern Taiga without meeting another person.
These people would definitely recognize him if the army came searching and spread wanted posters with his mugshot, and all he would invite to himself was a witch hunt on his way to the Northern Taiga.
His hands were skilled as they neatly created the bamboo hat. He put it on, obscuring his features from view, after which he gave a slight bow in the direction of the river, towards the hidden beast. For some reason, he felt no hatred towards this beast even though it was clearly a Fierce Beast of certain strength. Instead, he felt gratitude towards it for letting him use the purple mist without interrupting him.
Xue Wei then muttered the words he had heard the commander say back in the training camp, "We are neither good nor evil. We are no different from the beasts. And as long as the humans and beasts are at war, the fights will continue on, with neither side holding the advantage and no clear victory in sight."
Xue Wei still felt hatred towards beasts. He was after all human and had grown up with a strong animosity towards the beasts. however, for the first time ever, he did not wish to become a Primordial Beast Hunter. He just wanted to become stronger. So strong that he could make his uncle proud. So strong that Wang Xiaoyun's family would approve of him. So strong that he could get his revenge on the Ice Harpy. So strong that he would never be in danger of being killed again.
The further away Xue Wei walked, the more he started to feel invigorated. So what if he could not join the army? So what if he could not become a Primordial Beast hunter.
Originally, he was trash not worthy of being alive, but now he could cultivate. Originally, he was not able to become a Primordial Beast Hunter or join the army.
But with every step, he was more energized. He was himself, free from any restraints. So what if others thought he had mingled with Primordial Beasts, and so what if they thought he was one himself? What mattered was that his conscience was pure, and he would explain himself to all that mattered to him. The rest could gossip as much as they wanted to for all that he cared.