Tainted Blood

by Tinalynge

  “Of course, there are some exceptions where a Qi cultivator has become outstanding. Unfortunately, they are exceedingly rare.”

  “From what I can sense of the four of you, three of you have high Qi levels, while the fourth has no Qi level at all. Peculiar.”

  “Although the other three of you have cultivated your Qi, I have to admit that you, Xue Wei, have achieved quite a good result in the field of Spiritual Energy. If you did not try to cultivate both parts, your results would have been even more outstanding.”

  “I like cultivating Qi, though,” Xue Wei said after a bit of contemplation. To him both spiritual energy and Qi was equally important.

  “Well, we do have a Qi department in the academy,” Elder Sun said after a bit of time. “We mainly invite Primordial Beasts to participate in that class, but considering the current achievements of the three of you, you are all eligible to join the Qi Cultivation Class.”

  Xue Wei nodded his head. For Lin Xiao and Hei Gou, it was obvious what class they would enter, just as it was obvious which class Bai Tianyi would enter. The only one left was Xue Wei. He had higher Qi cultivation rank than his spiritual energy.

  His Qi had risen all the way to the eight layer of the Ordinary Knight rank after he finished refining the cultivation bases of all those people his Devouring Dragon ate back in Heping Kingdom. His spiritual energy level was still at the sixth layer of the Ordinary Knight rank. Although it was lower than the Qi layer, his performance in this aspect was indeed not bad.

  “Think it through,” Elder Sun understood that it was not an easy decision. “Well, first off, I will recite the oath that you are to take for you. If the oath is not too terrible in your opinion, then you should take it and then consider where to go from there.”

  “The oath is as following,” Elder Sun started, “I swear to the heavens above that I will never betray the Garden of Shadows as long as the Garden of Shadows does not betray me or treat me unfairly.”

  “That was simple,” Hei Gou muttered. Elder Sun snickered. “It is better to be straightforward and simple,” he said, grinning. “So what do you think?”

  Xue Wei considered it for a moment and then nodded his head. “Those words, we can say them,” he said and then repeated the oath verbatim.

  Not long after, Bai Tianyi did the same, and then Hei Gou and Lin Xiao followed suit.

  Seeing the four of them swear the oath, Elder Sun’s face was so filled with smiles that his eyes were narrowed into slits. He looked rather odd with his four eyes narrowed like that and a smile that wide.

  Chapter 41 - Three-Eyed Troublemaker

  “Now that all of you have taken the oath, allow me to explain what we are doing right now.” Elder Sun grinned as he looked at the four experts next to him.

  “A lot of nomads live in these grasslands, but in the last two years, a group of bandits appeared here in the grasslands. They started attacking the tribes at first, but as time went on they also started to exit the grasslands and strike the roads outside cities.”

  “The group of bandits is quite strong, and it consists of at least thousand if not ten thousand people.”

  “We had previously sent cultivators to eradicate them. However, everyone we sent ended up dead, or joining the bandits instead.”

  Xue Wei frowned when he heard this. “They could betray the academy even after taking an oath? Does this not mean that they should have died on the spot?”

  “You are smart.” Elder Sun nodded his head with seriousness and sighed. “Those who joined the bandits were all people who had been forced to go on the mission by the academy. Since they were forced to participate, the academy had already let them down and thus they would not get punished for their betrayal.”

  “Of course this is only for the oath itself. When we encounter them, we will kill them like any other bandit that we encounter,” Elder Sun continued in a straightforward way.

  Xue Wei nodded his head. Everyone made their own decisions in life, and they had to bear the consequences of these decisions.

  Betraying their academy was definitely an act punishable with death if they were caught. No one could blame those experts for joining the bandits if they had been forced into going, but equally, no one could blame the academy for doing the same and killing them when they had the chance.

  It was very similar to Hei Gou’s situation. He had betrayed his family because they had forced him to throw his life away. He had chosen to abandon his family and his name and instead strive to survive, but he understood that this decision meant that his family would want to kill him should they see him again.

  Although they had not done so, he had accepted it as a fact. These experts who had joined the bandits had also acknowledged this fact.

  “The mission we give now is to hunt down every bandit scouring our grasslands. You will get this wristband which is infused with spiritual energy. When a person dies around you, the bracelet will calculate the strength of the person and the merits will be recorded by the bracelet.”

  “These wristbands should be worn at all times, as they will calculate all your merits and later they will be transferred to your student tag.”

  “Remember, merits are everything for you.” He grinned as he handed over four black wristbands. They seemed as if they had been made from leather, but a small round bead was attached to it. In the middle of this small bead was swirling grey mist, clearly spiritual energy.

  Xue Wei looked at it curiously and poured his energy into it, but he sensed nothing. It was as if he was walking in a fog, unable to sense anything.

  After experiencing this loss of all senses, Xue Wei placed it on his wrist. The other three copied his actions. None of them saw anything wrong with this item, so they did not hesitate to wear it.

  As they wore the wristbands, they felt no different. All they could feel was something cool on their wrists, so they were quite curious as to how this small item would be capable of recording their kills.

  This continent was much different from the continent of Chang’an. Yan Dalu had almost no Qi martial art techniques, as they focused on spiritual energy. The few Qi martial art techniques that had managed to survive through time and the splitting of the continent were all low or middle-ranked. Only a few high-ranked skills had survived, but superior and profound skills did not exist on this continent.

  This was because only a few people cultivated their Qi. The majority of Qi cultivators on the continent were Primordial Beasts, and these beasts had innate abilities, which made them incapable of learning martial art techniques.

  The local two-eyes could cultivate their Qi, but they could never reach further than the Heavenly Warrior rank, and their fighting ability would be greatly looked down upon because their martial art techniques were as poor as they were.

  It was simply a continent where spiritual energy thrived and Qi cultivation was greatly inferior.

  Xue Wei looked at Elder Sun and started pondering. He had purchased quite a few Qi martial art techniques back in Golden Crow City, all of which were superior and profound.

  If he could exchange these skills for merit points, would that not be ideal? He had already gotten his Heritage Ring back, so those abilities were not that useful to him as they had been before. Merits were much more important.

  Although there were few who cultivated Qi as their specialization, no one would say no to having a few more, and stronger, abilities. Every cultivator with multiple eyes would also be able to enhance their strength by adding a few Qi attacks to their list of abilities.

  But Xue Wei was not dumb, he understood that his Qi techniques were likely to be looked down upon even if he were to bring them out. The amount of merits he could get would therefore also be limited. Still, it was worth a try as he could easily make a copy of the skills. There was no loss for him to give some of his less used abilities away.

  Elder Sun looked at the contemplating Xue Wei. There was no one interrupting him. Elder Sun could see that he was in deep thought ab
out how to conjure up a huge amount of merits.

  “Well, for now, let us just kill all the bandits that come at us,” Xue Wei said after a bit of thinking. Exchanging his abilities for merit points could always wait.

  “So how do I know what is a bandit and what is a normal person?” Xue Wei asked the most crucial question he had. If they could just wantonly kill, then there was no problem, but if they accidentally killed someone who was from the academy, then it would be rather troublesome.

  “The bracelets,” Elder Sun snickered. “The bracelets are wonderful. They only work on the experts that have taken the heavenly oath. As such no one can hide their affiliation.”

  “Well, what about civilians?” Bai Tianyi asked. Although they could easily kill people who did not have the bracelets, they could not very well go around slaughtering all the civilians again.

  “Oh, they have been evacuated. Anyone who stays are fair game. No one will blame you for killing civilians if they’ve refused to leave. Also many of the bandits will disguise themselves as civilians so let no one without a bracelet go!”

  “This place surely is different,” Hei Gou muttered, but a huge smirk was adorning his lips.

  It was time to hunt!

  “Let us get going,” Xue Wei agreed. They had been given a lot of information from Elder Sun. He had been incredibly friendly and helped them in every way he possibly could.

  Xue Wei knew that no one was that friendly without having some ulterior motives, but he had had the impression, on an instinctive level, that those ulterior motives were not harmful to them.

  The four of them exited the tent and walked through the camp. Many experts with three and a few with four eyes looked at them with the same disdain as before, but there was also curiosity in their eyes.

  The curious gazes increased when they saw the black wristbands. They were only given to academy students, but to become a student of the academy one needed a superior talent. Generally speaking, one needed a minimum of three eyes or to be a Primordial Beast, but these four all had two eyes. Were all four of them Primordial Beasts?

  But although Primordial Beasts were acknowledged as powerhouses, they were also quite rare. It was simply impossible for four to appear at the same time, so some of them had to be humans. But why would two-eyed humans be accepted in the academy?

  Xue Wei and the others ignored the many glances and headed out of the camp, only to suddenly be stopped by a young man.

  He seemed to be around Xue Wei’s age, seventeen years old, and his face had a wide smile on it. This smile, however, did not seem to be genuine.

  “New students?” he asked. Xue Wei, who had stopped in his tracks, looked at the young man. “Yes,” he answered with a neutral tone.

  “Why don’t you show us why you were allowed to join this academy? Your Qi level seems rather high. I cannot even fathom it, so it must be above the Heavenly Warrior rank, but your spiritual energy is only at the sixth layer of the Ordinary Knight rank, and your friends have an even worse achievement than you.”

  “To be honest, I am quite amazed by your ability to cultivate Qi to this level. Tell me honestly, are you a Primordial Beast?”

  “I am not,” Xue Wei said casually. It was no lie; he was half Sovereign Beast and half human. No part of his bloodline belonged to a Primordial Beast - at least from what he was aware of.

  “Ohh, you are not? Tell me, who is the strongest in your group?” the young man continued. Xue Wei looked at Lin Xiao and Hei Gou. When one considered their ranks, they were indeed the strongest in the group.

  “Well, the strongest in our groups are a bit older than you,” Xue Wei said casually. “Why don’t I spar with you?”

  Xue Wei was not dumb. He knew that this person wanted to cause problems as soon as possible. Accepting a spar was a way to calm them down.

  Elder Sun had been lurking in the shadows, ready to step in to defuse the situation at any moment, but he quickly found that Xue Wei showed no fear of this person in front of him.

  “I am an eighth layer Ordinary Warrior ranked three-eyed cultivator!” he said proudly. “I am able to wipe the floor with a mere Qi cultivator.” He grinned, but Xue Wei just curled his lips into a slight smile.

  Did this man really think that he could walk all over Xue Wei? Did he think that all Qi cultivators were weak? It was time to teach him a lesson.

  Seeing the fearless eyes of Xue Wei, the three-eyed challenger frowned. Why would he be so confident in his own strength?

  Still, when riding the back of a tiger, it was impossible to get off. He understood that he had started this conflict, so now he had to see it through to the end.

  “This way,” he said as he led them towards a temporary sparring field that had been set up by the academy.

  Many had heard what was going on and were curious about what had given this young man such courage when his spiritual energy cultivation was weaker than the other’s.

  Could Qi cultivation really count for something? Especially when they considered that he said he was not a Primordial Beast. If he was no Primordial Beast, how could he have strong Qi attacks?

  Reaching the sparring field, which was actually just a fenced square, Xue Wei entered the field casually. The three-eyed troublemaker was feeling slightly nervous, but after considering the situation, he calmed down.

  “You are just mystifying things for the sake of helping yourself,” the troublemaker said to himself and then shook his head and took a deep breath.

  “There should never be a day where I am fearing a Qi cultivator!”

  Chapter 42 - Qi vs Spiritual Energy

  Xue Wei was casual about it. He started stretching his waist as if he was preparing for a little jog. His attitude was rather prideful.

  The three-eyed troublemaker slowly regained the disdain within his eyes. “My name is Tang Liu! Remember the name of the first genius you have encountered, and be honored that I am here to take some time out of my day to spar with you!”

  Xue Wei looked at Tang Liu as if he saw a complete idiot. He had some real faith in his ability to beat someone at the same layer as himself. Although there were not many on Chang’an who focused solely on spiritual energy, this did not mean that there were none.

  In his group, there was Bai Tianyi who could only cultivate spiritual energy, from whom he learned many ways to engage a spiritual energy user.

  The most important thing was to protect and guard the soul. His own spiritual energy was weaker than his opponent, and thus he might become a target of spiritual energy attacks.

  However, Xue Wei’s soul was not an ordinary soul. It was the soul of an Azure Dragon. His spiritual energy had even taken the shape of a golden dragon, and it was much stronger than what one might expect. Fighting realms above his own was not a problem!

  Xue Wei stopped stretching and turned to look at Tang Liu. There were a hundred meters between them—an advantage for Tang Liu since he used ranged spiritual energy attacks, and a disadvantage for a Qi user like Xue Wei.

  Still, Xue Wei did not seem to mind. Everyone looked curiously at this Qi-using Ordinary Knight, wondering what exactly he could be up to, and what exactly could be the reason behind his confidence.

  “Begin!” someone called out. Xue Wei snickered.

  Forbidden Rush!

  Xue Wei left behind numerous afterimages as he suddenly rushed towards Tang Liu with a speed so fast it shocked the hearts of all present.

  Tang Liu’s eyes widened in shock and he tried retreating as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough.

  Shattering Mountain Palm!

  A palm that was shrouded in azure Qi descended onto Tang Liu. This palm brought with it a dangerous feeling that made the hearts of everyone present beat rapidly. Their eyes widened in surprise. They had never before seen Qi attacks as dangerous as this one.

  Tang Liu was shocked to the core, but he was an experienced veteran when it came to battle. He gritted his teeth and spiritual energy poured out of hi
s body, creating a shield in front of him.

  As the fist and the shield collided, a loud boom sounded out. Shockwaves from the clash caused the grass on the ground to billow in the wind, and the sand was swept up and made the two of them impossible to be seen for a short while.

  When the sand settled once more, they found that neither Xue Wei nor Tang Liu was moving. The spiritual energy shield that Tang Liu had created was completely shattered from that one palm-strike.