Bab 20: Rise Amidst Adversity

A Deer Hundred Beast King is peacefully grazing on the outskirts of its herd when suddenly it sees a person approaching extremely fast.

But before the Deer Hundred Beast King can do anything to escape or defend itself, it feels a sharp pain as its two front legs are cleanly and easily severed before vines grow around it, preventing it from fleeing—not that it could now with its severed legs.

"Quick, capture as many Heavy Work Deer as you can!" Chen Ming, this time, instead of focusing on killing the Hundred Beast King, takes charge of capturing the deer mainly since this is his mission.

These so-called Heavy Work Deer ,are as the name given to them by humans suggests, they are great at performing heavy tasks, being able to do the work of a dozen adult men alone.

"Ahrg! Chen Wei, deliver the final blow quickly," Huang Be holds the head of the Deer Hundred Beast King so that Chen Wei has a clear opportunity to kill the deer.

"Bloody Sword Cut!" Chen Wei shouts in his mind before cutting the deer's head with three slashes, killing it instantly.

Instantly, the captured deer, who had been struggling frantically, give up and melancholically become docile for the Gu masters who captured them.

"Hmm, these deer are really tame after losing their leader. I once heard that they wouldn't even attack a mortal after they become tame" Tai Pi pets the head of a deer he captured while trying to give a gentle smile that looks odd on his bat-like face.

"I guess it can be said that I had the biggest harvest on this mission, right?" Ya Chun, a short and stout man, jokingly says while pointing to a quagmire on the ground filled with captured deer who stopped trying to escape.

This Ya Chun is the new member of the team who replaced the now-deceased Meng Xin. He is a rank 2 middle stage Gu master who primarily uses the Earth path, being an expert in dealing with a large number of weak enemies simultaneously.

Which has been very useful for Chen Wei's team, who are beginning to think they've incurred the wrath of the Heavens or something due to their recent streak of bad luck. Only Chen Wei knows they are indeed provoking the Heavens by having him on their team.

But no tribulation comes without its due benefits, so despite facing great difficulties related to constantly having to fight large groups of beasts over the past month, they have already reaped great benefits. For example, they coincidentally found various expensive Gu materials on missions they didn't expect much from, or managed to obtain good Gu residing in the bodies of the Hundred Beast Kings they killed.

So, despite the hardships they faced, they still ended up benefiting in the end, which greatly reminded Chen Wei of the effects of Luck path, which shares the same creator as Blood path in the novel.

Of course, Chen Wei greatly benefited from his experiences in real life-or-death combat, definitely being the greatest on it of his generation. Though he didn't reach as critical a situation as his first mission, he still had several near-death experiences.

Of course, his greatest gain in the meantime was his Gu, which were refined to rank 2—each of them being very important in increasing his strength to the point where he is now one of the strongest in his team.

Starting with the second rank 2 Gu he refined, which is one of his greatest advantages for the early stages of cultivation: the Four Flavors Liquor Worm!

This is a Gu that probably only he has in this era, making him now have a middle stage Scarlet Red primeval stage despite still being in the initial stage of rank 2.

This kind of advantage for someone like Chen Wei, who already has an A-grade talent, along with large amounts of cultivation resources is a fantastic weapon, that allows him to grow much faster than anyone else. Together with the Blood path's advantage of quickly being able to rise in combat strength with few resources, it's a perfect combination.

Looking at it from this perspective, even with the help of their families—taking away his vital Gu that would also be refined to rank 2 after they advanced in cultivation—most heirs of clan elders would take at least three months to obtain a rank 2 Gu.

But he already has four rank 2 Gu, all refined by himself, as he feels more apt to refine his own Gu than leave that task to others, believing that this won't be a luxury he'll have forever, so he plans to be proficient in refining Gu.

The third rank 2 Gu he refined was the Blood Armor Gu, which is now called the Bloodchief Armor Gu for rank 2. And this Gu has already done its job, saving him from being in the same situation he was in the past with the Boar Hundred Beast King at least three times.

In fact, after seeing the defensive strength of this new Gu of his, his grandfather praised him extensively, saying that this one was at the peak of rank two, with its only disadvantage being the high consumption of primeval essence—now consuming 10% of middle stage Scarlet Red primeval essence.

And the fourth and last rank 2 Gu refined by Chen Wei was the Blood Rush Gu, now the Bloodthirst Rush Gu, which has incredible speed but still maintains the disadvantage of possibly causing the Gu master's veins to explode if used excessively.

"Quick, we still have to take these deer to the clan without letting them be killed by other beasts." This is much harder than it seems for them, who are constantly being attacked by beasts in recent days.

But after various difficulties, both in reaching the clan without letting too many deer die and in killing all the beasts that attacked them along the way, they manage to reach the clan without anyone being gravely injured and complete their mission.

With Chen Wei and Chen Ming soon reporting to their grandfather.

---

"Well, well, little Wei is really growing quickly, isn't he?" Chen Wang speaks to his two grandsons who are kneeling on one knee before him. "Usually, young people take longer to adjust to the real combat situation, but your adaptation was really quick!"

Chen Wang says with pride, but also a hint of worry about his grandson's safety who went against his requests and decided to go on missions even after his first life-or-death experience.

Of course, Chen Wang doesn't want to raise a spoiled heir, but he also doesn't want to see his grandson facing so many dangers that can really kill him, making the Chen family lose its most talented young master.

"I thank Grandfather for the compliments. I wouldn't have come this far without your teachings and care," Chen Wei speaks calmly and composedly to his grandfather.

"Good grandson," Chen Wang smiles but also looks at Chen Wei worriedly. This concern comes from his request for him to be allowed to go to the front lines of the war.

"Chen Ming, I trust your verdict on whether your brother can handle himself on the front lines without dying," he asks, wanting to know his grandson's sincere opinion even if it doesn't please him.

"Grandfather, if Chen Wei isn't ready for the front lines, I don't know who is!" Chen Ming speaks his sincere opinion to his grandfather, and of course, tries to help his brother a little, who has expressed to him his desire to fight on the front lines of the war.

"So be it then, from now on, you are authorized to enter the front lines of the war again, Chen Ming." Chen Wei, hearing his grandfather finally agreeing with his proposal, feels great nervousness but also excitement for the future.

'Heaven's Will will really try to use this opportunity to kill me... but so be it!' Chen Wei thinks confidently because he believes that the greater the risk he takes, the greater the benefits he will reap after overcoming his adversities.