Ch 7

Morning arrived, Adel walked past the disciples who were discussing what they have learned yesterday. Some of the studious ones performed the stretches, noticing that it could indeed strengthen their body.

Today, he decided to head out to the forest and gather the last ingredient for the cleansing pill, and also to test out his abilities.

But before that, he visited the Task Allocation Area and picked some easy missions.

He went out of the sect, venturing deeper into the forest despite the kind warning from the receptionist.

He gathered the herbs required for the mission along the way before setting out to look for the last ingredient, the Sun Grass. This kind of herb usually lives in dark places like cliffs, caves, or underneath a tree.

Even after half an hour had passed, he had yet to see a shadow of the Sun Grass. He climbed up the mountain and eventually reached a plateau blanketed in green grasses. Wild hares hopped around and nibbled on the weeds.

'Might as well do something productive.'

That thought came to his mind and he acted upon it immediately. He grabbed the nearest hare and dragged it to a corner. Seeing this, the rest scattered and ran away from his figure.

"One is enough." He said, ignoring the pitiful gaze and whimpers of the animal.

He immobilized the hare with one hand and touched its forehead with the other.

He channeled his Qi to the animal, with a sudden jerk, the hare let out a miserable cry. This alerted the animals nearby, for the cry was too wretched and painful to hear, as though it was being skinned alive. Adel tightened his grip as the animal struggled and whizzed between cries.

At this moment, Adel noticed a change undergoing on the hare's eyes. The color of it's iris melted away and a golden hue begin to erode it.

The grayish fur shriveled and fell from its body, it was soon replaced white and golden furs that immediately grew. He hare stopped screaming and Adel let go of his hands.

The hare has a pair of golden eyes, covered white fur with few golden stripes running along its back. It's eyes however, were listless and without purpose. It just stood there, blankly staring at the air.

Adel could sense his Qi inside its body, and he could control it with a mere thought. His Qi locked away the hare's consciousness and would not allow it to surface.

Adel manipulated the animal's Qi and formed a Judgement Spear the size of a ruler. His conjecture was correct, he could indeed execute skills through the hare.

"Having total control of a being's life and death...this feeling is rather addictive."

A single thought from him could crush the hare's consciousness, or cause the Qi inside its body to rampage. However, he did not do so, as he was a kind and reasonable man. Modern protocols require test animals to be killed, but then again, this is not the modern world.

He released the hare's consciousness and when life returned to its eyes, it saw the face of its offender. It scurried away, driven by fear.

Even with such distance, Adel could still sense his Qi and utilize it by borrowing the animal's will.

"This technique is marvelous, way more sophisticated than all the forbidden techniques known to man."

He even discovered that he could hijack the consciousness of the hare anytime and share its senses.

"Junior martial brother, what are business do you have here? This place is very dangerous for newbies like you." He heard a voice.

A boy walked out from the forest, carrying a boar's carcass. Small vines cling to his clothes and his hair was slightly messy, he wore the usual Wind and Cloud Sect uniform. He seemed to be about 10 years old.

Adel cupped his fist in greeting. "Reporting to senior, I am looking for a herb called Sun grass in order to make the Cleansing Pill."

The boy rubbed his chin to ponder. He slapped a bag from his waist and took out a stack of yellow grass.

"Sun Grass is it? Here, take it and return to the sect. Wait until you reached the Foundation stage. Only then can you wander around this area with relative safety."

The boy spoke in a low tone, almost as if he was talking to himself. "The monsters around here are acting weird lately. Some of them had gone mad and are extremely ferocious. If newbies like you encounters one, you have little chance to survive."

Adel nodded in agreement. Though he possessed a mighty offensive skill, his body was still that of a mortal. Even in his previous life, a normal truck could kill him.

Adel noticed a particular detail about the boy, the design of his robe.

Outer sect disciples usually wore a plain azure robe. The boy's apparel was different as it was embroidered in gold stripes and could patterns ran across the surface.

This was mentioned in the jade slip given to him, only inner sect disciples could wear these kinds of clothes, and the cloud patterns signifies statues and achievement, just like the stars on a general's uniform. The boy's robe has four cloud patterns, he should be an outstanding individual.

To be an inner sect disciple, the cultivation should at least reach the late Foundation stage. For small boy, this is quite a feat.

Adel took the Sun grass and bowed. "Thanks for the advice, senior, I shall excuse myself then."

"Hmm." The boy strode away. Though his gait was slow, he figure quickly disappeared from Adel's sight.

Adel returned to the sect and saw Jian Chen performing a sword art alone on the training ground. This training ground was for sword and it was desolate as the only one who would come here are Outer disciples. The children knew nothing yet about swordsmanship, should they come and try, the sharp swords would easily wound them with one wrong move. The weight of the sword also hindered them as they could barely swing it properly.

The instructor thus forbid them from holding a real sword until they complete the Nourishment Stage. Combat training usually begins at the late Nourishment stage or in the Foundation stage.

Jian Chen's swordsmanship hid profound sword intent. It was small, but it could not escape his eyes. Moreover, his current mentality was that of an old, tranquil lake. He is more like an old immortal rather than a child as he performed the swordsmanship. Flashes of sword light would glint in the air, yet the surrounding was quiet and serene, as though the sword travelled on a different dimension.

At Last, Jian Chen stopped and looked over. He had long known that someone was watching him, but he didn't mind, as there was no way a mere child would understand the profoundness of his swordsmanship. They would merely think it as some fancy swings and forget it later.