25. Climb

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. ( Psalms 34: 14)

******

"Sir, there is no message from the shadows."

The man stayed bent, waiting for the next set of commands.

"Hmm... Others have began to move," A voice stated from the shadow, to no one in particular. "Did Elder Ha sent any?" The voice asked.

The servant answered without lifting his head, "Yes, Sir. He stated that they are moving towards the inner circle and the forest had been abnormally unrest."

"He hadn't found it yet," The voice spoke, again to no one in particular.

"Sir, Do you need anything else?" The man didn't look up yet, but he saw the tent get brighter.

The Young man who spoke revealed himself in the dancing light of a candle. His violet eyes reflecting the soft light. He then slowly turned and walked out the tent, his steps soft yet strong. He pushed the cover and walked out.

The guards who stood guard immediately bowed to him, "You highness!"

The young man waved them off and walked out into the moonlight. He looked to the sky, basking in the moonlight under the celestial eyes. Today's night was clear, allowing him to look at the many stars.

"Soothing breeze, basking soft glow, celestial whisper, time flows like the unstoppable river, never halted, we swim against but non ever succeed." he muttered as he closed his eyes taking in the serene atmosphere.

...

"HU...Ha...Hu...Ha..."

Sound of ragged breath came from the edge, a bloodied hand reached from the beyond. The slender fingers gripped the edge rightly, blood dripping from the wounds. Force was applied and a girl pulled herself up.

Baiyun crawled, putting her weight to the ground and pulled herself from the edge. Her hand left prints of blood with each moment. She fully pulled herself out of the edge and turned around. Her back to the ground and her face to the sky. The sky that was no longer a strip of blue, but one that was vast and endless.

Baiyun laid still, her breathing slowly returning to normal, her blood dried, her tense muscles finally relaxed. Baiyun kept her eyes to the sky as a tears formed in her eyes. She was finally out of the abyss. She had many times wanted to give up, but that was not an option. She couldn't sleep or relax. She could only hold on.

Baiyun grunted and brought a pill to her mouth, the sour taste of it reminding her of her situation. Baiyun could feel her body gain some strength as the pill melted in her mouth. The revitalizing pill she took removed the tiredness and gave an energy boost, allowing her body to function normal.

Baiyun slowly got back up on her feet, her hands still shaking from all the pain. She had pushed her body to the limit over her climb. She had used most of the food pills and other revitalizing pills. She couldn't fully cultivate to gain back strength and her lack of sleep affected her concentration. She had to use the pill to supplement and keep her body moving. For 10 days she climbed with little rest to reach the top.

She moved away from the abyss edge and walked into the forest. She needed to find a place to say and recover her strength. She couldn't be without out in the open where a beast could find her.

Baiyun wandered the forest edge, never moving in as to stay away from other beast. She walked for hour before she found a hollowed tree just as the sun dipped low. She checked the hole for any activities in case if any beast was occupying it.

She double checked the hollow before she moved to check the surrounding. She kept silent while looking for any trails. When she start to cultivate, she would be defenseless. She could not any beast find her during that.

Baiyun checked the whole area before she came back to the hollow with many branches and barks. She fixed them together before she walked into the hole and closed it. The bark would stop any beast from finding her accidentally.

She then brought out a small flag formation and stabbed them in. The massive tree was enough for five people to sleep comfortably, so she was able to place the formation without straining the space too much.

The formation would hide her presence when she cultivated. She and Jialiang would normally take turns but Baiyun was not in situation to worry about that. After making sure the formation was working, she sat on the middle and started her meditation.

...

..

.

"The competition is almost over," Ling Hao stated.

Feng Rong walking next to him didn't answer. For the past weeks, Ling Hao had stuck with Feng Rong, competing with him in everything. Ling Hao kept pestering Feng Rong through out the hunt. His annoyance nearly caused Feng Rong to shoot him in the face with an exploding arrow, but Feng Rong new better.

The fire cultivators were fiery, but Feng clansmen have learn to control those urges, and use it to their advantage. They were very successful to the point they became one of the best strategist in the empire.

So, he was really close to exploding Ling Hao.

"It is, but who would win the competition?" Feng Rong smiled, "You ready to lose the bet, Ling Hao?"

"We will see," Ling Hao grinned.

Feng Rong did continue and looked to the front, where a massive Bear laid dead. The Bears had many arrows stuck in its hide, one in its eyes. Their were also sword marks in its legs and back. The Bare was a late stage of foundation establishment and was killed by both Ling Hao and Feng Rong with the assist from the guards.

Few were hurt, no deaths, and after fighting a battle of attrition for nearly half an hour, they managed to slay the beast.

The were of course planning on dividing the points since, Ling Hao and Feng Rong were not here to win the competition. They both were here as a show of power from their family. That they are still strong, leaving no one to speculate.

"So, what's next?" Ling Hao asked.

"We move back to the competition venue," Feng Rong stated. "I already have more than enough points to get high in the leaders board."

Ling Hao looked at Feng Rong, his eyebrow arched.

"I am not going to waste time killing beast more than I needed," Feng Rong stated without a shift in tone. "If you want to keep hunting, you are free to do so."

Feng Rong didn't wait for Ling Hao's answer. He just folded his hands and walked to his tent. Ling Hao stood as he watch Feng Rong retreat into his tent.

Ling Hao's servant walked to the front to inquire, "Sir, should I ask the guards to get ready?"

"No, we are returning too," Ling Hao stated and walked to his tent.

"Okay, sir." The man bowed.

...

"Elder Ha, do you still want to continue alone?" Feng Rong asked,

Elder Ha opened his eyes lazily, his didn't get up from his inclined chair. He didn't even seem like a Nascent Soul cultivator. "I do."

"I understand," Feng Rong stated as he gave a small bow and turned.

"Feng Rong," Elder Ha called, "You were not given details as this doesn't concern you."

"I understand," Feng Rong moved on.

He clearly understood the message. He is to not look deeply into the matter and it is of no concern to him.

...

On the other side of the forest,

"Brother, we should have more than enough to win the competition," Hu Cheng stated as he removed his spear from a bulls Deer's head.

Hu Qian, sitting atop a slain beast answered, "But you still lack training. Your swings are wind and leaves too much opening between your attack for someone to strike back."

"Brother," Hu Cheng lowered his head in dejection. "You are the top sword expert of your generation, of course you will see many gap in my defense."

*Puk*

Hu Qian jumped from the earth drake he had slain and smacked Cheng on the head. "Stop sulking, you are already old an adult. If you don't cover those gaps, you will die in one of those reckless duels."

"But I could feel myself advancing in those situation," Hu Cheng stated. "Especially when the blood boils in the peak of battle."

*PUK*

Hu Cheng flinched at the other smack, "If you keep going like this, you will meet an opponent who outmatched you and will die."

"But~" Hun Cheng began.

*puk*

"Shut it, I do not want to hear more," Hu Qian stated as he pulled the corpse into his ring. "We hunt for next two days and return."

"Okay," Hu Cheng accepted as he rubbed his throbbing head.

...

"Big Brother is planning something."

"Princes are always planning something."

"No, This is different, Jihao."

Prince Zhihao turned to his trusted aid, Jihao. The young man was similar to him at age an was an excellent swordsman and a foundation establishment realm cultivator. Jihao was more like his friend than anyone else.

"I could feel the shift, the times are changing and we might just have the final fight for the throne in this decade," Zhihao stated.

"I will always stay by your side, your highness," Jihao knelt.

"I know, my friend, I know," Zhihao kept a hand on Jihao's shoulder. "That's why you are the only person I trust."

Jihao bowed his head.

"Now, let us prepare to depart," Zhihao stated as he walked past. "I would like to be there when this competition peaks."

"Yes, Your highness," Jihao saluted.

***

Baiyun walked out the hollow tree with a dried meet in her mouth.

Her sunken cheeks were were puffier, her eyes had regained their light, her hands were bandaged and her core was filled with Qi. She had cultivated and slept enough to recover her bodily function back to normal.

Baiyun chewed on the hard meet as her stomach growled.

She was hungry, she had no food pill left to take. She had used it all up in the climb. The food pill were only suppose to be backup in case they couldn't hunt anything eatable and if they had non left, they could just return to the venue.

But the situation didn't allow for both.

The dried meat was the last of her rations, and after this she would be going hungry if she didn't hunt for food. Even though cultivators are more resilient then mortals, those at the lower realms still need to consume to survive.

Baiyun brought her dagger and walked into the forest.