Wudi left Elder Wei's place after a very long discussion. When he was done, he named the martial intent "Light Reversing Mortal Intent". Elder Wei found the name questionable, but upon further thought, realized that it was similar to the name the academy head came up with for his own martial intent. Either way, it wasn't his place to comment.
Wudi had no plans of resting and smiled when he thought about what Elder Wei had promised him. He requested to join some disciples from the first inner division to the Divine Demon Mountain. Wudi was joining disciples who had already been inner disciples for some time, and a few were even in the martial dao realm. Having just joined as an inner disciple, Wudi would normally be tasked with simpler missions before going straight to Divine Demon Mountain, but he needed to polish his abilities and finish his cultivation technique.
Wudi was also smiling because he was allowed to use some contribution points right then to get a fist technique. It was actually a fist technique left to the academy by one of Wudi's ancestors called the Seeking Thunder Fist. Besides the elements of light and darkness, Wudi also had a high affinity for lightning, as he had comprehended quite a bit from the lightning strike previously. It just so happened that the technique left by his ancestor was of the lightning attribute. The royal clan didn't cultivate any lightning techniques, so his ancestor had left it with the academy, and it was only meant for those in the martial insight realm.
Wudi made his way to the far north side of the academy to meet with the inner disciples in division one. There were five divisions, and the number of the division had nothing to do with ranking or the sort. Division one happened to be heading into the Divine Demon Mountain to transport some goods to one of the academy's outposts. There were seven outposts and one stronghold in the Divine Demon Mountain held by the academy. The empire had its own outposts and even a stronghold close to the academies.
The Divine Demon Mountain was so massive that its span was actually unknown. Although called a mountain, the true threat was on the other side of the mountain, where it became the Divine Demon Forest. Despite this being the case, just this side of the mountain spanned several countries and hosted outposts and strongholds from many kingdoms and empires.
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On the opposite side of the academy, in a personal courtyard of one of the high elders, lay a young man on a bed. Ji Ren sat on one side of the bed and was speaking with the disciple in the bed. Ji Xuanming waved his hand at Ji Ren's words, clearly displeased at what his uncle was saying. His uncle, not taking offense, closed his mouth and pondered on what he should say.
Ji Xuanming glanced at Ji Ren and said, "You don't need to convince me not to look for trouble with Tian Wudi, I lost and that's it." Ji Ren looked at Ji Xuanming with a shocked expression. Seeing this, Ji Xuanming coughed dryly and said, "You don't need to look at me like that. I still know my responsibilities, and that the clan and the academy come first. I'm not dumb enough to start a blood feud with a fellow disciple. I have my pride."
Hearing this made Ji Ren think he might have thought too deeply. After all, Ji Xuanming was part of the main bloodline of the clan and the direct grandson of the clan head. Ji Xuanming clearly knew what people thought of him, but this never stopped him from being himself. He was haughty and arrogant by nature, and losing one fight wouldn't change that. But it also didn't mean he hated Wudi or felt the need for revenge.
He knew that if Wudi hadn't comprehended his intent at the last moment, then he would have won. He definitely let his guard down, and he knew that even with the same circumstances, he wouldn't have lost so miserably if he took Wudi more seriously.
Pushing these thoughts aside, Ji Xuanming forced himself up while coughing. After catching his breath, he told his uncle that he was going to go train in the divine demon mountain. Ji Ren knew he couldn't stop Ji Xuanming from going, and Ji Xuanming's wounds weren't really bad in the first place.
Ji Xuanming might not hold a grudge against Wudi, but he definitely didn't like how Wudi had butted in on his and his cousin's feud with the actions he did during the fight.
It was also at this time that Wudi reached the first division and was already helping them in getting the carriages ready for departure.
"Wudi, come with me for a minute." Wudi turned and nodded to teacher Liang Shouwei and stepped to the side to speak. Liang Shouwei was graceful, wore the academy's robes, and carried a whip as her main weapon.
"I don't know what made you want to join a mission to the divine demon mountain so early, but you'll need to stay near me and your senior brother Bocheng." Wudi looked over and saw a slightly chubby man walking towards them with a slight smile on his face and nodded at Wudi before looking at teacher Liang and said, "Teacher Liang, were done with preparations."
Nodding to Yang Bocheng, she said, "We'll need to leave then. I was just telling your junior brother Wudi that we'll be looking after him. Please watch him closely." Nodding in understanding, Bocheng smashed his hand into his chest and said, "You can count on me, Teacher Liang."
Liang smiled and said, "I've told you before, you can just call me Sister Shouwei. We're from the same generation." Bocheng shook his head aggressively and said, "I'd never do such a thing. After all, you're a teacher now. How could I be so casual?"
Sighing lightly and knowing what he would say, she just nodded and headed towards the carriages. Wudi saw this and could clearly tell that Yang Bocheng had a crush on Teacher Liang. This wasn't surprising, as she was relatively close to their age, and she had many admirers in the academy.
Yang Bocheng and she were also in the same division at one point. She had just entered the last stages of the Martial Dao Realm rather quickly and was close to advancing. Thus, she graduated one year earlier than Yang Bocheng and decided to stay and become a teacher for the academy.
Seeing Wudi's gaze, Yang Bocheng became a little awkward and said, "You can stop looking at me like that, Junior brother." Wudi smiled and said, "Why not just tell her?" Yang Bocheng was shocked and said, "You are too young and shouldn't be commenting like that. It's not always so simple." Wudi nodded without arguing about the subject, and the duo followed after Teacher Liang.
I haven't been uploading at the pace I had hoped but I'll hopefully kick things into full gear soon.
Wudi sat on the front carriage with Teacher Liang. Cultivators didn't need much rest, so despite it being nightfall, not many were actually sleeping. Teacher Liang still looked vigilant. Many kingdoms were eyeing their territory, and there was a singular explicit rule for the Divine Demon mountain: anything and everything was up for grabs. Only the strong ruled in a place like this, and kingdoms and empires rarely ever started wars for issues that occurred here, but the bulk of that reason was due to there not being much evidence.
If two groups happened to fight over a natural treasure, then they'd do whatever they could to exterminate the other party to prevent word from getting out. Teacher Liang was aware of these facts, but these types of convey runs mostly consisted of food and goods to last in this environment. They'd occasionally bring items to disciples or teachers that had gotten awarded, but it'd be far and few in between.
Wudi sat lazily, but also had his eyes open for any danger that might occur. It was at this time that Teacher Liang called for a stop and asked everyone to set up camp. Wudi looked at Teacher Liang and asked, "Why stop now? Shouldn't we continue throughout the night?"
Teacher Liang explained patiently, "Continuing further and we'd reach where some tier three demon beasts are located. The horses are the fastest we have, and we could avoid many of these beasts if we speed up, but the horses will need at least some rest beforehand."
Smiling, Wudi said, "That makes sense, though I'd say with Teacher Liang here, the Demon Beasts wouldn't stand a chance."
Teacher Liang gave Wudi the side-eye and said, "Enough of the sucking up, help the rest set the tents."
Wudi nodded without complaining and went to help. It didn't take long before the tents were set, but no fire was started. Cultivators had good eyesight even in the dark, and a fire would only bring unwanted attention. Some went to rest, most wouldn't sleep, but many went to cultivate in their tents, some stayed out and patrolled. Wudi himself also went to his tent to cultivate.
Wudi only focused on increasing his Qi, converting, condensing, and expanding his dantian as much as possible. Wudi wasn't far from advancing into the minor completion stage and was very close to hitting the bottleneck between the minor realms.
Wudi heard a thud while he was cultivating and thought something was odd. He stood up to check out the situation, but as he stood up, he heard shouting. Bursting out of his tent, he sensed something and sent a backward palm out behind his back. Someone let out a muffled groan, and Wudi looked around before turning to look at the person who attacked him. It was another student named Wei Zhongxian. Wudi looked at him coldly and said, "What's happening? Who else is involved?" Even now, many others were fighting and yelling. Wudi knew it was mostly their side that was injured or dead, the sneak attack made that clear. Wei Zhongxian smiled at Wudi as he stood and said, "There isn't a need to know, Prince."
It was then that two others surrounded Wudi from behind Wei Zhongxian. Wudi was not afraid and looked at the newcomers; they were not from the academy, which meant they had been waiting in the woods for them to stop. Wudi suddenly remembered what Teacher Liang said, that not much further was a dividing line for reaching a stronger area in the mountain. They must have set up here with the thought that they'd stop before continuing. Wudi thought of this and smiled, saying, "Aren't you afraid of the academy's backlash?" Wei Zhongxian laughed and said, "How would they know if everyone is dead?" Wudi replied, "Good point. I suppose I can at least test myself on you three. As seeing that I have the lowest cultivation, perhaps you should let me make the first move."
Wei Zhongxian only replied by sending a fist toward Wudi with a slight smile and said, "Sorry, but we'll have to take advantage of the third prince. We know of your martial intent." It was Wudi's turn to laugh because he'd heard of Wei Zhongxian in the past and knew he had also learned his martial intent already and was at the grand completion stage of the martial insight realm. Wudi side-stepped and deflected an attack from behind while dodging Wei Zhongxian's attack. Wudi then counterattacked the one that was waiting for him to try and escape. The third ambusher was surprised because he'd thought Wudi would take the chance to run. He could only block the attack at the last second. Wudi also sent another fist behind him, using his intent to block a blade from behind.
Wudi was able to send the one he punched flying, but the hand he punched out with to block the blade was bleeding down his knuckle. Wei Zhongxian was shocked because he just used his intent to attack Wudi with his saber, and it only caused Wudi's knuckle to bleed a little. One had to know that he was at the grand completion stage and was a step away from the martial dao realm. He couldn't help but feel inferior when compared to Wudi, who was just in the small completion stage.
Wudi laughed and sent a punch toward the second ambusher. The second one barely dodged the attack but this gave Wudi a chance to jump back and adjust his stance. The three thought he'd run but he just stood there, Wudi said "Again."
While the fight was happening in the divine demon mountain, Tian Shou was reading a report back in the academy. Tian Shou had donned a serious face after reading it. "What do you think Brother Shou?" surprisingly the person speaking to Tian Shou was Ji Ren.
Tian Shou shook his head and said "I'm not sure, if disturbances like this are really occurring in the areas controlled by our empire and the academy then we might have an issue." Pondering for a moment, Tian Shou continued "Didn't teacher Liang lead the first division? Did she request it?"
Ji Ren nodded and said "Yes, she did. Teacher Liang should be more than enough for a simple outpost trip." Shaking his head, Tian Shou said "I think there's something more to this. She's only a step away from breaking through, and the academy offered her the chance to enter the Thousand Sand Room. If she left, then it means she has a purpose for going and the timing is odd."
A confused look appeared on Ji Ren, and he said "The signs happening around our area of influence are definitely signs of spatial warping. It's possible it's a mystic realm like we think, but there isn't a reason to suspect Teacher Liang has anything related to it."
Tian Shou shook his head and said "She only just recently returned from the Divine demon mountain and comprehended her Martial Dao Intent. I thought it at the time, but didn't her intent seem similar to the Grand Illusionary Drum?"
Ji Ren had a shocked look and said "I hadn't thought of that. If so, then that means she could have obtained something last time. Maybe she even has the key for the mystic realm."
Tian Shou stood and said "I have to go. I have a bad feeling about Wudi. This is just all too coincidental, and we may not have been the first ones to connect the dots."
Hey guys, sorry for the slow releases. I wasn't able to get anything done over the weekend. I spent most of my time with my son and wife. Anyway, if you're enjoying the story, let me know. It keeps me motivated to keep writing, and hopefully, I can get out consistent chapters for you guys. Thanks for reading.
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