by Tinalynge
Shattering Mountain Palm!
A palm strike descended straight on Tiger Triplet Daddy’s chest, right where his heart was located. The recipient of this attack felt a bit of danger, but his body no longer followed his orders anymore.
He tried to move, but all that happened was that a tremble went through his body before the Shattering Mountain Palm collided with his chest. Blood sprayed from his mouth and he was shot backward like a kite that was let loose from its string.
A raspy breath escaped from Tiger Triplet Daddy, a final breath before his eyes turned dull. The entire place lapsed into silence. Only the sounds of fights from the other cages could be heard, but these cages did not have much of an audience; most had been drawn to Xue Wei’s battle.
The silence did not last long before a cheer erupted from Lu Yuping’s mouth. He jumped up in the air with his arms above his head and cheered loudly as though he were the one who had won the battle.
Xue Wei, who was in the cage, smirked slightly. This had been the most thrilling fight he had ever experienced. This was without a doubt a new experience, though he was aware that he could easily become addicted to the feeling of killing if he was not careful. The hunting instinct was immensely strong in him.
Having heard Lu Yuping’s cheer, everyone else woke up from their stupor. They all erupted in cheers. Even the ones who had lost money in the betting pool were excited. This was a fat sheep that had killed someone from the Tiger Triplets. That was quite astounding, a feat worth quite a bit of respect.
“His performance was brilliant! Though I have a feeling that we will most likely not see him again,” someone in the audience said with a sigh of regret. “The remaining two Tigers will not let him go. As long as he sets foot outside of this cave, they will be waiting for him and will kill him.”
Xue Wei listened to the voice while leaving the cage. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had no say in who his opponent was, the Tiger Triplet Daddy was the one who had jumped at the chance to fight him, so to be the target of others because of this was rather annoying.
Since he could not choose, he could only fight. There was no giving up. He was not going to allow his challenger to kill him just because he feared retaliation from the remaining two of the Tiger Triplets.
“Mister Lu, these Tiger Triplets, what exactly are they like? What is their strength like, and what exactly can I expect from them?” When Xue Wei exited the cave, he went back to Lu Yuping and Li Chen and asked the former his question.
“The Tiger Triplets? Those three-legged cats cannot do you anything,” he laughed. “Although Cai Ming, the guy you just fought, is the weakest of the Tiger Triplets, he is not that much weaker than the other two. I would like to see them try their hands at attacking you.”
Xue Wei had expected the two other triplet members to be much stronger than himself because of what he had overheard, but it seemed he had been mistaken.
Feeling a bit calmer, Xue Wei nodded his head. Hours had gone by during the cage battles. Xue Wei had observed multiple fights and partook in one himself, but now the cages started being cleared. One after another was left empty and the crowd was thinning.
Li Chen and Lu Yuping were still there, both conversing with Xue Wei, telling him about the important characters in the underworld of Cloudsoar City.
“The biggest player within the underworld is without a doubt the Intelligencer.” Both Lu Yuping and Li Chen agreed on this. “He is much stronger than any other high profile member of the underworld. In fact, there is no one stronger than him in the entirety of the Chengzi Kingdom.”
“His connections go so deep that it doesn’t matter where you go, kingdom, empire, and even the center of the continent—he’ll have a man there.”
“After the Intelligencer is Li Chen. Li Chen has gained much fame for her appearance, but also because she has the strength to back up her beauty. She is a dangerous person, so watch out,” Lu Yuping warned him teasingly after seeing that Xue Wei and Li Chen somehow had already established a sort of friendship.
“After myself comes the Earth Knight Primordial Beasts,” Li Chen took over. “Lu Yuping is one of them, but he is not alone. There are a total of three Primordial Beasts within this underground world, all of which are strong enough to rattle the city’s foundation if they truly wished to do so.”
After the Earth Knight Primordial Beasts came the humans of the same realm. After these came the Ordinary Warriors and so on and so on.
Xue Wei had a clearer understanding of the entire hierarchy of the underground world. He understood that there were various people excelling at various things. In fact, there was nothing that he could not get on the black market as long as he had the resources or money to pay for it.
“Well that was it for this week,” Li Chen said while they walked through the tunnel leading out of the cave. “Why don’t you come next week as well?”
Xue Wei gave it a thought. “If I have time, then I will,” he said and nodded his head.
Before leaving, Xue Wei picked up the prize for winning his fight. It turned out to be seven pills suitable for Heavenly Warriors, alongside two spiritual fruits and three herbs. There were no low-grade essence stones in his reward as it had been considered an easy, low-class match.
The stronger the contenders were considered, the more the prize would be. However, since Xue Wei had been a hitherto nameless combatant, the stakes in his battles would be rather mediocre until he made a name for himself.
As Xue Wei came out of the cave, he was met by the crimson morning sky. The entire evening and night had passed by while he had been underground.
Chapter 15 - Contemplation
Xue Wei let go of a deep breath. The cool morning air was refreshing and gave Xue Wei a slight chill after he had been in a humid underground cave all night.
Xue Wei looked around and saw that Li Chen and Lu Yuping both had vanished into thin air, not even saying goodbye to him. He did not mind though, as he had expected this to happen.
Xue Wei had established bad blood with the two remaining members of the Tiger Triplet trio by emerging victorious against their brother, but they had not been present down in the cave so it was likely that it would take some time before they were informed about the loss of their youngest brother.
Taking this brief amount of time as an opportunity, Xue Wei started moving towards the richer areas of the city, out of the black market’s territory.
Although it was mainly dangerous outside during the night, this night was special. Xue Wei had proven he was not a fat sheep waiting for the slaughter, but he still did not have the strength to protect himself against the factions within the black market. If not because everyone worth their salt in the underworld already knew that Xue Wei was close to both Li Chen and Lu Yuping, then he would have long since been robbed after leaving the cave.
Xue Wei was not so naive to be ignorant of this. He knew that he would be an easy target since he was merely in the Heavenly Warrior realm. However, he was not going to just give up and hand over his valuables. He had prepared a Flameward Formation to stall for time, held it in his hand, and was ready to throw it out should the need arrive, but nothing happened.
It was easy to guess as to why. The weaker experts who were independent had realized that he was no fat sheep, and the stronger ones did not wish to offend Li Chen and Lu Yuping.
The stronger ones had already started to assume that Xue Wei was a Primordial Beast. If he was not, why would Lu Yuping go out of his way to be friendly towards him?
But nothing was absolute. When they went to the Intelligencer to get their hands on some information, the price for information on Xue Wei was so incredibly high that they all had to give up. It was clear that the Intelligencer was not willing to divulge any information about him.
Xue Wei left the black market territory easily. But right as he was about to turn the corner into another district, he came across three cloaked experts. These three experts all rode on Fierce Beasts. Their dis
play of having Fierce Beast contracted was rather grand and their eyes cold like the twelfth lunation’s new moon.
The three glanced at Xue Wei with disinterest. None of them displayed any interest in him and they quickly returned their gazes in the direction of the black market territory.
Xue Wei was not unfamiliar with these three. He had encountered them before. They were precisely some of the Diviners that had come to town earlier, whom he had seen out of curiosity.
Could they be here for the same reason as the Primordial Beast Hunters? Were they also here to apprehend Lu Yuping and the other Primordial Beasts that resided in the darkness of the underworld?
Xue Wei could vaguely make out that these three were all Earth Knights from what his senses told him. Their strength was at the peak of the Chengzi Kingdom. They quite glaringly did not look local.
“We will not capture him here either,” one of them said, completely ignoring Xue Wei who had walked by silently, but his senses were heightened so he heard their conversation.
“We have to catch the traitor,” the one in the middle said, his voice chillingly cold and without any emotions.
“We have tracked him for quite some time, to think he even left the center of the continent. Not only this, he also has so many resources as he was considered a genius by the temple, so he should be able to sustain himself and his training for a long time still. We need to find him and bring him to justice. We might have to give him a second divine boon,” The last, left one said with a sigh as if he was lamenting the fate of the subject they were talking about.
Xue Wei continued walking, but he raised an eyebrow in surprise. A traitor among the Diviners? What could he possibly have done to be considered a traitor? And it seemed he had been regarded rather highly prior to that.
Still, Xue Wei did not take the matter to heart. Although it was a curious conversation, he knew better than to get involved with the matters of the Diviners. Despite being a Sovereign Beast, he could not guarantee his own safety if they tried to take over his mind.
Returning to the hotel, Xue Wei saw that there were still experts watching the gate, waiting for Xue Wei and his friends to leave. Unfortunately, they could not identify anyone as someone from their trio due to lacking means. They still followed every child, but it had brought nothing.
Xue Wei easily slipped unnoticed back into the hotel and returned to his suite. He sat down on the bed and looked at his hand. He clenched it slowly in front of him, and then his face cracked into a smile.
The battle today had made him feel a new form of thrill. He was no longer in doubt about him being a beast: to enjoy the hunt as much as he had, to feel so invigorated after a battle, it was clear that he had some instincts different from the usual human.
But he did not mind. In a way, one could say he was high on the feeling. Although it was now hours since the battle had ended, he still felt a tingling sensation in his body every time he thought about it, and he wanted to experience it again.
“Next week I am going to bring the others,” he muttered to himself. He could imagine that Hei Gou shared the same feelings as him, as the latter had not been able to run wild for a long time. Taking him to the black market where Primordial Beasts were acknowledged and admired, was this not the best present he could give him right now?
Bai Tianyi, on the other hand, was very refined on the outside. He seemed as if he did not care about anything or anyone, but truth was that he was a bloodthirsty mass murderer who did not care who he faced. Anyone who died would lose their soul power and he could absorb it and refine it into spiritual energy instead of wasting it. Even if he was not willing to fight in the battles, he would most definitely join for the sake of increasing his spiritual energy.
Deep in thought, Xue Wei unclenched his hand and dropped backward, laying down on the bed. He looked at the ceiling above him. Many thoughts flashed by in his mind.
Although he had accepted that he was a beast, he had instead been filled with more questions than answers.
“I don’t know who my true family is,” Xue Wei sighed as he closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. A deep sigh escaped his lips. “Who is my mother? Is my father really my father? If he was, was he also a beast? It makes no sense if he was a beast as well. Why would Xiao Lei kill him?
Was Xiao Lei a beast? He had to be since he had traveled together with Chu Huiyin back from his memories of when his village was massacred.
A slight tremble ran through his body as he was reminded of the memory where he saw Xiao Lei’s cold eyes and bloodied, clawed arm that had impaled his father’s chest.
Based on the appearance of his clawed arm, Xiao Lei was without doubt a beast. And from the azure color of the scales, it seemed as if he was an azure dragon as well. Considering that he had the Azure Dragon Scripture and the Heritage Ring, it would make a lot of sense for Xiao Lei to also be an azure dragon.
But if Xiao Lei was an azure dragon, and Xue Wei’s real family, then what about his human father? Was he not his real parent?
There were so many questions running around in his mind, recurring and revolving, the same thoughts coming back in new ways.
“I need to meet Lan. He knew about me. He should know the truth,” Xue Wei finally mumbled. He was tired and exhausted. The tingling sensation of thrill had subsided and instead a comfortable exhaustion had started to spread through his body.
Deciding not to think about it anymore, Xue Wei kicked off his boots and took off his outer robes before he climbed into the bed and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Waking up to a knock on the door, Xue Wei draped a red robe over his body and went to open it. Outside were two foreign faces. Both were young men; one looked slightly shorter than the other, but neither was a child.
Still, Xue Wei could instantly recognize both of them, it was clearly Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi.
“Growth spurt?” Xue Wei could not help but ask as his eyes landed on Bai Tianyi.
“Nah,” the sword spirit was not insulted by being treated as a child. He instead explained, “I am able to change my physical body as I please, but maintaining this shape expends much more energy than usual so I cannot do it indefinitely.”
“I see.” Xue Wei smirked when he heard this. It seemed that Bai Tianyi was still stuck in a child’s body.
“What brings you here?” Xue Wei asked with a gentle expression on his face. He was happy to see his two friends, and he conveniently had something to bring up with them.
“We’re going out and wondered if you wanted to come with us,” Bai Tianyi took the word.
“Is that a good idea right now?” Xue Wei could not help but send a glance to Hei Gou. The Diviners he had met that morning were not friendly people. If there was even the slightest sign of someone being a Primordial Beast, they would lynch them within seconds, and these Diviners were all Earth Knights.
“I understand you worry about me,” Hei Gou said with a small smile, shaking his head, “but I need to get out or I will go mad.”
“I have been holed up in the suite for a long time already. I am not in the mood to be locked up like this. I am going to go mad if this continues,” Hei Gou complained with another shake of his head.
Xue Wei pondered for a moment. “I had something to share with you anyway,” he said after a moment. “I went to meet with the Intelligencer,” he began. “I needed information about the Sovereign Beasts. All the information I can get. On the way back, I encountered a place underground for illegal cage battles that opens once a week. Primordial Beasts are more than welcome—in fact, they are acknowledged and respected.”
“I was thinking of going again next week. Why don’t the two of you come with me? It is filled with soul power.”
Xue Wei added the last part when he saw that Bai Tianyi was about to decline, but Bai Tianyi’s eyes turned slightly greedy and a smile played on his lips the moment Xue Wei spoke up about it.
“A place to go wild?” Hei Gou was surprised, but then
he grinned. “Okay then,” he had decided. “I can wait until next week, but don’t you dare forget me!”
“I wouldn’t dare to do that,” Xue Wei laughed. “But for now, don’t go out and get caught by the Diviners.”
Chapter 16 - Four Divine Beast Clans
Hei Gou did as he was told, and the week went by rapidly after that. Xue Wei, Hei Gou, and Bai Tianyi focused solely on cultivating while waiting.
None of them underwent any qualitative breakthroughs this time, but they each still managed to strengthen their foundations and increase their Qi and spiritual energy pools.
As the morning broke on the day of the underground cage battles, Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi went to Xue Wei’s suite.
“The black market territory is the kind of place where we’ll never know what to expect, or who to expect for that matter,” Xue Wei began, cautioning them. “We need to be careful and even more on alert than normal since the Diviners are in town.”