The return journey part 3

Type of sacred-blood golden-furred giant tiger beast soul: shapeshifting. 

"A sacred-blood beast soul" Bian was ecstatic, he had gained a lot on this trip. As he stared at the two bodies on the floor he summoned the little lion and let it eat the Giant Tiger.

If he were to eat it himself who know when he would gain a single geno point. He looked around and ensured the safety of his surroundings before moving into the cave.

He brought out a lamp from his bag and ventured into the cave. It was wide and huge, different corpses filled the interior with some of them being manticore's corpses, some still had flesh remaining while others had been reduced to bones. At a single glance he could see over twenty piles of bones littered about.

'The tiger is a real apex predator and would most likely have healed from its injuries given enough time' Bian came to this conclusion as he looked at the bones all around him, by the time he returned from the cave there was only the body of the manticore left on the sands.

He led the lion inside the cave as it began to devour the bones left behind by the tiger, some bones had awkward shapes and there were a lot. It would take the lion a few days to eat it all.

Bian brought out his knife and got to business separating the manticore into different parts removing all the poisonous parts. After all he had no resistance to poison.

He brought the meat into the cave and began eating. 'Can't be stingy. I need to get stronger'. The fight between the tiger and the manticore reminded Bian just how weak he was.

[Flesh of feral manticore eaten. One sacred geno point gained]

[Flesh of feral manticore eaten. One sacred geno point gained]

[Flesh of feral manticore eaten. One sacred geno point gained]

...

After two days a man and a lion the size of a cow finished their meal in a cave, far away from the rest of society. Bian gained seven sacred geno points from the feral manticore.

"Still haven't evolved yet?" Bian looked at the lion wondering when it would evolve. It currently had no wings or tail.

He had been in the sanctuaries for less than six months, a good chunk of his time spent in this desert. He indirectly trained his body every day by using vital point targeting which requires the body to pose to strike. Maintaining the posture consumed stamina especially in the early stages of the geno art when it took several minutes to lock on a target.

He covered many fatal flaws in his fighting style during this time. Bian wasn't ambidextrous, he trained his left hand using vital point targeting. Now once he locks on to a target he can throw two spears simultaneously or consecutively.

As the tiger finished off the manticore Bian locked in on its eye, he changed his target once he saw its heart. Bian remained in his posture and tossed a spear at an exaggerated angle, due to this it took longer for it to land, he then summoned two spears while still maintaining that posture. If the posture was broken he would have to lock on again which would take too long. These spears were thrown consecutively at the heart, and one was perfectly hidden behind the other.

"Okay I've been in the sanctuaries for less than six months, half my time was spent here in this desert. I've maxed out my ordinary and primitive geno points, I have two mutant geno points and seven sacred geno points. One sacred geno point grants me one minute of sacred-blood transformation."

Bian did some calculations, with his total geno count he would be able to maintain his transformation for about 10 minutes. He decided to leave the desert, there just weren't enough creatures around.

He decided on a path, summoned his mount and began to move in the direction of the mouth of the cave. After travelling for four days he saw a structure in the distance, as he got closer he recognized it to be a large tent.

"Are there people in there" Bian thought of going around them. 'No! Any detour would affect my journey out of the desert. Besides with the power of the golden-furred giant tiger I could always run or fight.'

In the camp.

Two sentries were smoking and laughing. Da Bing saw a human figure in the distance.

"Hey someone's coming over" Da Bing said to Nue Bo, "Imma go call for the boss" he left in a hurry, rushed into the tent and came out with three more men.

The boss asked the scout Nue Bo for some info "he doesn't look particularly strong, no armor and his mount is a primitive beast soul." Said Nue bo.

The boss smiled wickedly, they went to meet Bian as he approached. After having a fall out with Son of Heaven, they fled from the shelter and went into hiding, deep within the deserts ever since.

As they came up to him, Bian remained unfazed.

"hand over the bag and all your beast souls" one of them said.

"And if I say no?" Bian replied.

Another spoke up "we are the silver tongue mercenaries, we keep to our word."

Bian scoffed "to be here in this desert with no supplies isn't much different from being dead"

"Well it's either that or to be dead directly" Nue Bo said. This wasn't the first time they had robbed travelers, their life or death would depend on their moods.

"Let's talk things out" Bian got down from his mount and said. "How about I give you some supplies and we go our separate ways" he said with a smile.

The eyes of the mercenaries gleamed with a dangerous light. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Bian decided to ask for directions before things got out hand.

"Okay forget it I'll give you my beast souls, by the way how far is the nearest shelter from here" he asked.

One of then came forward, the expression on his face relaxed, "look over there" he pointed at some pointed rocks backing the sun quite a distance from there.

"Once you get to those rocks walk in the direction they face, you'll enter new territory called the devil desert. You should see some groups hunting there, ask them where steel armor shelter is"

He then stretched forth his hand for the exchange, Bian was planning on starting a slaughter initially but had to reconsider.

'So I'm close to steel armor shelter. I'm not sure if I can defeat them, well I guess it time to make a run for it.

He suddenly started sprinting away, the boss saw this and scoffed chasing him on his mount, the rest of the members also quick on his tail.

After noticing no particularly fast mount Bian kicked up the sand and made a small smoke screen.

He transformed into a five meter tall tiger and sprinted as fast as he could.

'Whoa' feeling the wind gush by his face was amazing, he was getting closer to the landmark at a visible rate. The mercenaries lost sight of him.

"Damn it!" the boss yelled in anger, his face turning red.

"I'll remember you" he turned and his underlings followed soon after.

Upon reaching the land mark, Bian began to feel extremely exhausted. Shapeshifting back to his human form, he summoned his mount and continued his journey. Walking in the direction of the pointed peak.