章 23: Mystic's Hidden Realm.
Liang Chen continued to look at the two bodies in front of him, his expression twisting into an unwilling grimace, a thought appearing in his mind. What if it wasn't a problem with the blood, but with him? Would he never be able to bathe in Demonic beast blood again?
He was unwilling. If he could not bathe in Demonic beast blood, he would have to rely on normal cultivation as well as using natural lightning to cultivate. But normal cultivation was too slow, and he could not rely on natural lightning, as there was no telling when it might appear. Liang Chen quickly took several deep breaths, calming his mind and muttering to himself.
"It's too early to say what is wrong, I need to test the blood of more Demonic beasts before I say anything certain, it might just have been a fluke."
He spoke the words partly because he believed them, and partly to soothe his own worried mind. He looked at the two jars of Demonic beast blood in his hand, pondering for a short moment before he decided on what to do with them. He pulled out a leather bag from the wagon he was leaning against, carefully packing away the jars. As he did not yet know what was wrong, he did not want to waste the blood. While Liang Chen was packing away the two jars, Yi Huang's voice rang out from the front.
"Everything cleaned up?"
Liang Chen leaned to the side, allowing him to see what was happening further up the caravan. The bodies of the wolves had been neatly taken apart, even their bones and fur stored away in bags. Besides the wounded Jin Wuying, all the other guards held bloody knives in their hands, giving a nod of their head and a loud shout in confirmation. Yi Huang gave a short nod of his head, turning towards Jin Wuying.
"Good! Then we continue on with the journey! Wuying, you take it a bit easy for the rest of the trip, we'll get your arm patched up as soon as possible."
The guards let out a loud shout, mounting the caravans while Yi Huang let Du Gengxin know that they could continue the journey. Liang Chen could not help but glance at the wagon that Du Gengxin was resting in, no matter what had happened, the wagon stayed without a scratch, the array defending it must be rather powerful.
But Liang Chen quickly averted his gaze, the stronger the array defending the wagon was, the more important the people inside the wagon were. Liang Chen did not have the time to think about who they might be, or accidentally get involved with them. He tucked away the bag where he stored the jars of blood, climbing onto the wagon he had been sitting on before the attack, returning to keeping guard.
The caravan quickly started moving again, the sound of thunder and the torrential downpour the only audible sounds in the area. Liang Chen glanced at the dark sky, his eyes glittering whenever a bolt of lightning split open the sky. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, but just as he was about to continue cultivating, the voice of Yi Huang rang out from his side.
"Thanks to you we managed to avoid getting ambushed, I owe you my thanks."
Liang Chen quickly turned his head, only to see Yi Huang hanging onto the tarp at the side of the wagon, looking at Liang Chen with grateful eyes. Had it not been for Liang Chen's warning, the wolves would have been able to ambush the caravan without them being able to prepare anything. Liang Chen gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders, slightly shaking his head.
"I am currently a guard of this caravan, so I was only doing my duty."
Liang Chen had not given it any special thought when he shouted out the warning. He was currently working as a guard, so he would do his duty as a guard, no more, no less. Yi Huang gave a slight shake of his head as he responded.
"That doesn't change the fact that your actions might have helped save the lives of some of my men, so I still owe you my thanks."
Yi Huang had seen many people in his life, and there had been many different types of people that had worked for him. Not everyone was like Liang Chen, simply doing their duty because it was their duty. The way Yi Huang saw it, such people were a minority, the majority being those who only acted when they immediately received a proper reward.
Yi Huang did not continue to chat with Liang Chen for too long, he had to do his part as a guard after all. Once he left, Liang Chen closed his eyes and returned to his cultivation, drawing upon the lightning that was flashing in the sky. Each arc of lightning he drew into himself filled him with immense pain, but his lips simply curled into a somewhat bloody and mad grin.
The journey continued without pause, the caravan only stopping at night so that the horses and guards could get some sleep. The storm ended a little before the dawn of the fifth day, leaving Liang Chen somewhat disappointed. But he was getting closer to his destination, only two more days of journey needed to reach the Mystic's Hidden Realm.
Liang Chen was highly vigilant for the last two days, worried that anyone might attack them and force them to slow down their journey. But his vigilance was for naught, the only attack they suffered being from a group of bandits that were even weaker than the wolves they had recently fought. Yi Huang did not even have to take action, the other guards quickly overwhelming the bandits and finishing them off.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, the caravan made a short stop to drop off Liang Chen. The caravan stopped on a long road that continued on for as far as the eye could see. To the right of the caravan was a massive mountain that looked almost like a giant wall, while to their left there was a verdant forest, the trees so thick that it required three men to surround them with their hands.
At the place where they stopped, there was a small path cut into the forest, continuing straight into the darkness. Liang Chen knew that this path would lead him to the entrance of the Mystic's Hidden Realm, so he had already jumped down from the wagon when the caravan came to a stop. Just as Liang Chen jumped down from the wagon, Yi Huang spoke up from in front of him.
"To reach the Mystic's Hidden Realm, you only need to follow this path. At the end of the path, you will find a large blue gate, passing through the gate will feel a bit uncomfortable, but it is the only entrance so you will just have to bear with it."
Yi Huang pointed down the path that led into the forest, his expression solemn as he spoke. He had never entered the Mystic's Hidden Realm, but he had heard many a tale about its dangers. Old Fen picked out two bags from the rearmost wagon, tossing them to Yi Huang, who then gave them to Liang Chen as he explained.
"I originally wanted to give you some money for your work as a guard, but I don't think you will have a use for it in there, so take this bag instead. There are a few medicinal pastes in there, some to heal wounds and some to cure the more common types of poison."
The two bags were made out of sturdy leather, and had strings on them that allowed Liang Chen to fasten them to his back. One of the bags was the one where he had stored the Demonic beast blood, while the other one was the bag that Yi Huang had prepared for him. A smile appeared on Liang Chen's face as he accepted the bags, giving Yi Huang a slight bow.
"Thank you."
Just like Yi Huang had said, Liang Chen had no use for any money within the hidden realm. But there was always a need for medicine and antidotes, so he much preferred receiving those. Yi Huang took a step forward, patting Liang Chen on the shoulders as he let out a sigh.
"Don't mention it, you aided us after all. Take care in there, kiddo. If things go south, you can always escape the hidden realm and come find us by using the Eternal Dragon Pavilion. We could always use someone like you, so it ain't worth risking your life in that place if things go south."
Yi Huang's words came from his heart. Liang Chen had only traveled with them for seven days, but those seven days had been enough for Yi Huang to realize that Liang Chen had extremely sharp senses, not even the torrential downpour could stop him from detecting the oncoming wolves. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, a faint smile on his face.
"I'll make sure to keep it in mind."
Yi Huang looked at Liang Chen with a serious expression for a short moment, before walking past him and climbing onto one of the wagons, the caravan continuing their journey. Liang Chen looked at the disappearing caravan for a short moment, before stepping onto the path and moving deeper into the forest.
Even if things went wrong in the hidden realm, there was no way he would ever join Yi Huang's group of guards. The reason was simple, if he traveled with them, he would never be able to acquire the strength he sought after. He would never be able to surpass Qing Lan Yong and step out of his shadow.
Liang Chen followed the path for almost half an hour until he finally reached the end. Ahead of him stood a blue gate that was several meters tall, a suction force and a faint light radiating from it. Even though it was called a gate, it was actually just a mass of energy that served as the entrance to the hidden realm. Liang Chen only looked at the gate for a short second before stepping into it, his eyes filled with cold determination.
"Mystic's Hidden Realm...You will give me the strength I desire."
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