Zhuo Meng was sitting in his room, cross legged. A similar stance as when he took in qi. The only difference was now he had a become a cultivator.
A cultivator's goal was different. No longer condensing qi, now, it was about refining the core.
Zhuo Meng has condensed his core, and was now officially in the ferrium stage, first gate and first sub realm. Each stage had three gates, and each gate had nine sub realm. After reaching the ninth sub realm you could have a try at the next gate.
As a higher sub realm allowed a much better control of the user's qi.
Advancing through gates was like trying to jump over barbed wired fences and expect not to get injured. You needed to have extreme caution and to not have any outside disturbance.
But after all, the most important aspect was the core type. Zhuo Meng's Thousand Silent Bloom was graded as a second tier core type due to mystery surrounding it, otherwise it would be a first tier core type. Core types are graded from tier one to five, with one being the most optimal. A more optimal core doesn't automatically make you better, it just opens up possibilities that lower graded cores just aren't capable of.
Zhuo He's reaction was not exaggerate, he was in the duskaron stage, third gate, at the ninth sub realm for over ten years because of his grade five core, yet his grandson had a grade two core.
Morning had come, Zhuo Meng managed to get a few hours of sleep as he quickly left with Zhuo He to the inner part of the village.
Zhuo He had spent a large amount of his savings buying two seats on a special carriage. When they have arrived there were already four people who had done the same. A middle aged couple with masks that were hiding their faces and two old women.
The middle aged couple even had matching robes, their masks had an intrigue design, with what seemed a rose bud on the middle of it. As for the two old women, even though they were cultivators, they were in the same state as Zhuo He financially.
The reason was that cultivation resources were extremely expensive due to the recent war lost by the empire. There were often mortals who had a nicer house than Zhuo He, but their wealth couldn't compare to his.
Zhuo He stared at the middle-aged couple for a few seconds before turning his head toward the two old ladies, sparing them no more than a glance.
Zhuo Meng didn't spare them a second glance. In his mind, they were already ghosts. As far as it concerns him, they were really not there. Why should he care? It was the same in his previous life, people are busy with their own matters. Rob me? I don't have any money. Kill me? I am neither a threat nor useful.
Along with Zhuo He, he took the carriage to Feiyun. It was a long distance but the carriage was led by a white winged bird. This bird had very long and narrow eyes, it had an extremely unsettling look in its eyes.
The carriage began to rise slowly, the ground shrinking beneath them. Zhuo Meng's brows furrowed, subconsciously looking through the wall that separated him and the bird, he hadn't noticed anyone steering the beast, and the creature's sharp, narrow eyes only deepened his unease.
Sensing little Meng's gaze, Zhuo He immediately understood and assured Zhuo Meng. "You are worried about the flying bird right? It is actually a human... Well, more specifically a cultivator who assimilated with his bond." the old man chuckled while patting Zhuo Meng's shoulder.
Zhuo Meng's eyes lit up. "So that's it. Does that mean that grandfather can also do the same?"
Zhuo He shook his head with a smile. "I am not quite at that point, maybe in the future? Who knows?" he chuckled.
Hours passed by. The couple haven't said a word to each other even once. Aside from the occasional chatter between Zhuo He and the two old women the ride has been extremely quiet.
But suddenly, the floor beneath them gave a faint jolt. Then, another. A hush swept through the cabin. Without warning, the carriage lurched downward, not violently, but with the sickening certainty of falling.
Zhuo He's pupils shrunk. The couple looked at each other... before bursting out of the carriage, followed by the two old women and Zhuo He and Zhuo Meng. One by one, they leapt from the falling carriage, landing in the dense canopy below. They had no problem, while Zhuo Meng had to rely on Zhuo He to safely leave the flying carriage.
But the following sight shocked all of them.
The flying beast's head, gone. Its body slumped mid air while the severed head tumbled through the clouds, eyes twitching in eerie spasms, as if still trying to speak. A heartbeat later, blue light pulsed over its corpse. When the light faded, a middle aged man's lifeless form remained, falling through the air.
Then it appeared.
A creature standing upright cloaked in a deep void black color appeared before the dead cultivator. Two grotesque fangs jutted from its lips, curved like scimitars.
It also made a bone chilling sound, it was a very rough and hoarse murmuring that seemed to taunt the cultivators. It was a creature you could only visualize in dreams, its aspect was also brutal that could even make an adult cry.
Without pause, it drove a hand through the man's stomach and yanked out a formless core, wreathed in a faint, translucent blue veil. First thing, the creature sucked in the blue veil around it, after that only the carnelian core was left, before also being devoured by the creature.
The carnelian core was one of the lower rarity in the fourth tier. It had a reddish orange color and a metallic feeling to it.
The body exploded a breath later, a brutal implosion of flesh and blood. The carriage was blown to splinters.
Zhuo He was full of cold sweat. "There is no way.. that cultivator was in the crysalor stage..." His eyes were full of fear.
He was in the duskaron stage, it was just the second stage, to compare him and a crysalor stage, no matter what core type the crysalor stage cultivator had was an insult to the heavens.
The smoke slowly dissipated, out of it a very intense killing intent seeped out. This killing intent made the six cultivators feel a chill down their spine.
What is this killing intent? It is so suffocating, my legs won't move! Damn it, my mind is going blank. Zhuo He is in an even worse state.
Zhuo Meng and the rest started hyper ventilating, not only the killing intent, but the aura was also extremely overpowering.
The six of them started panicking. The masked couple was the farthest, the effect on them was the weakest and they managed to run. But the creature was so fast that it seemed to teleport.
Thump. Thump.
Two heads rolled on the floor, blood started spurting like water from an artesian fountain. In a matter of seconds their cores were devoured. The metallic smell of blood was sickening, it made Zhuo Meng's stomach turn.
Luckily they managed to regain their footing.
"Soto, come out!" old man Zhuo He shouted with a terrified expression.
The dazzling lycan immediately manifested. However it was even more terrified than the cultivators, it immediately curled in a ball. Zhuo He could only sigh helplessly, he perfectly understood his bond.
He didn't manifest it to fight that terrifying creature, it was so that he and Zhuo Meng had a better chance to escape. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The terrifying creature leaped out at the two women and mercilessly decapitated them. Did it favor the head for some horrific reason? Or was it simply the most efficient way to kill?
It was likely the second part, it didn't linger long after killing them, slurping their veils and devouring their cores. Like an expert assassin, this was the worst case scenario.
Cold sweat drenched Zhuo He and Zhuo Meng as they stared at the creature, completely unfazed by the explosions round it.
Oh heavens, what did I get myself into. Sigh, its only my fault for wanting to go to Feiyun so soon. No... even If I cultivated ten years I couldn't beat this creature. But what are the chances of attracting the wrath of such a powerful being. Damn it!
Zhuo Meng's mental was at an all time low, he could see and feel his death, it was only a matter of time.
The creature appeared before Zhuo He, with deep killing intent, it ignored both Zhuo Meng and Soto.
"Grandfather!" Zhuo Meng anxiously shouted.
Sensing his master's impending death, Soto, despite the immense fear, went to attack the mysterious creature, only to be crushed into a pulp by the creature's leg. Sensing the connection with his bond dwindle, Zhuo He let out a roar before gritting his teeth. He signaled to Zhuo Meng to leave and run as far as he can.
Zhuo Meng's knees buckled. His breath came in shallow rasps, and a cold numbness gnawed at his spine. His body refused to move, not out of stubbornness, but because it had already accepted death.
Zhuo Meng cursed internally as he fought the sensation to vomit. There were just a dozen meters between him and the creature. Both of them looked at each other.
Strangely enough, the creature didn't immediately devour Zhuo He's core, instead it seemed to analyze Zhuo Meng. But before he could react, it teleported right besides him and slashed at his stomach, the pain was so overwhelming that it knocked Zhuo Meng unconscious on the spot.
...
The door slowly opened, making a creaking sound as a pair of eyes looked at Zhuo Meng sleeping soundlessly.
"Hmph... what's with that creaking? Can't you be quieter?" Zhuo Meng said while half asleep before turning on the other side of the bed.
"Mother!! The boy is awake!!" a little girl anxiously shouted as she shut close the door, waking up Zhuo Meng.
"Don't kill me!" Zhuo Meng shouted, bolting upright in bed.
I am alive? Where am I?
He checked his body, then his surroundings, it was not a dream. He still was in the body of a twelve year old.
How did I survive? What happened with Zhuo He and that creature?
Ughh, my head hurts like hell.
Zhuo Meng slowly sat down on the bed, zooning out. He was trying to figure out the final moments he remembered but couldn't make anything out of it.
Steps could be heard from the hallway.
A cultivator? This aura is stronger than my grandfather's by a lot. But it's nothing compared to that thing...
As he visualized that creature in his mind, he felt lingering fear.
The door opened once again.
There stood a woman in her middle years, striking in her beauty. She wore her long, chestnut hair like silk spun from autumn dusk, and her eyes, deep, perfect brown, held the calm of late summer rivers. Grace lingered in her every movement, her stature, tall for a woman, carried a quiet strength despite the fragile look.
At her side, clinging gently to her leg, a young girl peered out with wide, curious eyes, her gaze fixed upon Zhuo Meng.
"How are you feeling? You've been asleep for a week now." the middle aged woman spoke in a gentle tone, showing a concerning look.
Zhuo Meng turned around and looked at her. His gaze pale as if he had seen a ghost. He involuntarily clenched his fists as a sharp pain in his heart assaulted him. He stared at her, lips trembling, heart pounding like thunder in his chest. Finally, in a voice barely above a whisper, he spoke: "Peng Su?"