In the outermost area of the mountain range, a campfire was lit, Qichen sat on a log with his hand slowly spinning the flame shooting tiger over the fire.
The aroma was so tempting that he wanted to drool. "I guess what they said about the flame shooting tiger was true." Qichen murmured. Even though he was still smelly, he has already gotten used to the smell to the point of being able to ignore it, making him able to smell other things.
It was dark in the night and the camp fire would have been like a signal to demonic beasts if it was a little deeper. Qichen wasn't that worried. He wasn't the only one staying here.
Not far from him were other camps with groups of people laughing and eating. Those who couldn't survive in the inner area and who still had hope of finding the so called treasure would come here to relax and then continue their search tomorrow.
Most of these people were made up of mercenaries, disciples of certain families and lone wolves. Each had their respective area. All of them formed different groups with demonic beast in their mouth, only Qichen was alone. Qichen didn't mind, he knew that people wouldn't come close to him with how smelly he was.
It was even a good thing having nobody disturb you. Qichen quickly cut part of the meat and was about to eat it. "This brother can I sit beside you?" A voice sounded behind Qichen. Qichen stopped his action and looked behind him with surprise. This was the first time someone was willing to talk to him. He knew how smelly he was and couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with this person. After seeing who it was, Qichen was even more surprised.
It was a beautiful girl around 15 - 16 yrs old in a purple dress. She has a fair skin with long black hair dancing in the wind, eyes that sparkle in the night and she gave people a friendly feeling. "Sure." Qichen nodded and then took a very big bite from his meat.
His mouth was bloated with all the meat that it'll take him sometime to swallow. "Thank you." The girl said with a happy smile. She quickly took a nearby log and sat on it. She stared at the flame shooting tiger and slowly swallowed. The same time she swallowed was when Qichen finished chewing his meat. He turned to look at her and saw she was about to drool. Seeing this, Qichen guessed why she would approach him, making him shake his head knowingly. He quickly cut a big piece from the flame shooting tiger's meat and handed it to her
"Here." He said. "Little brother this…" The girl was a little embarrassed. She knew that Qichen must have guessed why she came. She was a little hesitant, but her stomach was protesting. She would only be in hypocrite for rejecting.
"Don't worry there is still a very big piece left. Besides, I can't eat it finish." Qichen said with a persuasive tone. The girl smiled after hearing this and quickly took it from Qichen and bit into it. The moment she took the bite, her eyes brightened and she couldn't stop herself from groaning. It didn't take long for her to devour the meat like a hungry wolf. She looked at Qichen and smiled.
"I'm sure you must be curious about how I'm able to sit beside you." Qichen looked at her and then nodded. "Hehe…" the girl giggled a little. "It is as simple as it could be. I just blocked my sensing acupuncture. I'm sure you didn't think of that right?" The asked with a smile. Qichen nodded his head. He didn't think of that.
"Well, I'm gifted when it comes to acupuncture. Not everybody is gifted in that area." She said "There are some people who will receive signs early on about the martial spirit they might awaken in the future."
Qichen interest was raised to its peak after hearing this. Although he joined a sect, he joined as a menial disciple and didn't stay for more than a year before he was killed. Although he knew there was a martial spirit realm after the innate realm, he didn't know that they were signs to tell about what martial spirit one might awaken. Qichen suddenly thought of something
"If you've blocked your sense of smell through acupuncture, how could you sense the aroma of the flame-grilled tiger I'm cooking?"
"Hehe…! I was passing by when I saw you grilling the fire shooting tiger over the fire. Although I couldn't catch wind of the aroma because of how smelly you are, I could tell from how crispy it looks and the fat. Besides fire shooting tiger are one of the best meat out there." The girl replied with a smile
Seeing that Qichen became more interested, the girl smile even more "For example, the city lord daughter had already gotten a sign. She got a sign about a year ago. Guess what it was."
"This....! I can't really guess. Sister, please don't tease me," Qichen smiled embarrassedly. "Hahaha…!" The girl laughed a little. "Okay, I'll stop. It is said that what she awakened was a very strong heightened sense of smell." She said, looking at Qichen's reaction.
"This….!" Qichen was surprised. "Only that? There's nothing special about it, right?" Qichen asked with a confused look.
"What do you know? It is said that after she awakened that sign, she found a lot of treasure that would only take luck to find." Hearing this, Qichen's eyes brightened. Yes! How easy it would be to find treasure with an increased sense of smell. Most spiritual treasures that come naturally from nature emit a kind of special scent the moment they appear.
Like spiritual fruits that emit a special scent the moment they appear. As the fruits mature, the scent increases. Just think of being able to discover spiritual treasure with this kind of awakened sign.
"She is currently at the top of the list of who will discover the treasure that appeared not long ago." There was longing in her eyes when she mentioned the treasure. Qichen learned a lot from this conversation and was gratified.
"Well, not everyone can awaken a sign. It can only depend on fate." The girl said. "There are some people that will receive signs before the martial spirit realm and will awaken a powerful martial spirit, but might not surpass those that didn't even awaken a sign. Some people won't even receive one, but the moment they awaken their martial soul, it will be like a step to the sky."
"Let me give you a famous example. A long time ago, two brothers entered a sect. One of the brothers awakened a sign and was fawned upon by his peers and even the older generation. He was even accepted as a direct disciple by the sect master."
"The other was also famous, but not because he also awakened a sign, but because he was the twin brother of the one that awakened a sign. Although his talent was also on par, he still lived in the shadow of his brother until.... " The girl suddenly stopped and smiled mischievously.
"Hehe...! Little brother, I've been talking for so long, and my mouth is already dry. Even my stomach is rumbling." Qichen was caught off guard and was shocked. But he didn't think anything was wrong; he had received a lot of information, and if he could repay with food, why not? And to be honest, he was kind of enjoying the story. He didn't waste time and quickly cut off a large piece of meat and handed it to her.
The girl took the meat and quickly chewed on it with haste. She didn't talk until she finished. Qichen was patient and waited. "Thank you, little brother." She said to Qichen with a smile.
"The two brothers were always in the same realm, and if one of the brothers broke through, it wouldn't take long for the other to break through. The brother who awakened a sign broke through the martial spirit realm first, and as you could expect, awakened a powerful martial spirit first. His status among his peers was shot like a catapult, so much so that his other brother couldn't even see his shadow."
"All this changed when the brother who didn't awaken a sign broke through the martial spirit realm and awakened a martial soul. The day he broke through shocked everyone. He awakened a martial soul that didn't even lose to his brother but was even better than it to a certain extent.
His fame rose faster than his brother's to the extent that everyone in the White Tiger Domain knew his name. Every time the two brothers fought, the one that didn't awaken a sign at the beginning would always suppress his brother, even till this day."