Chapter Ten: The First Step
Two weeks had passed since the day Long Qingxiao came back and announced to the family their old status anew. The family was an Aristocratic one again.
After the announcement, a council was called where things mostly unknown to the rest of the family had been discussed, but what became known was the new territory. It took three days for Lord Ye Xiu to bring the edict to Patriarch Long Qingxiao, and after he departed, it was announced that the old commoner district would be relocated to the new land. This was an idea that came from Long An, the representative of the group; he said that the area of the old district could be turned into farmland with enough work and that it was a better option. The good thing was that the river cut through the new land, making it easier to take care of the farms and not have to share as much of the water source with their neighbors.
Long Tian didn't participate in that reunion, but later his father asked his opinion about the expedition. In the end, they concluded it was inevitable, and now it was just a matter of hoping for the best.
But things happened with Long Tian in these last two weeks. His classes were progressing fast, and with Long Hao noting every lesson, he was basically creating a book to teach from. But Long Tian's theoretical knowledge was coming to an end; there were a lot of things that he hadn't discovered equivalents for yet, as his family didn't have many options for herbs. He did find equivalents for other things, all of which had been used as food for cattle and the like.
The boy was in the process of creating a pantry book, a thing to help with the teachings in the future. And what's more, the restaurants were in preparation. Long Tian had already given the layouts to his mother; she was the one responsible for speaking to the builders and explaining how they should be made.
And more ideas came to the Heavenly Dragon Family heir after the addition of the new territory, the main one being to use pipes to irrigate the farms and also bring water to the commoners' houses. No more buckets or wells. But this world had very rudimentary plumbing. The reason it was not widespread was because of the cold that froze the water and also because it wasn't seen as needed, or at least not in people's minds.
It was a very common thing that Long Tian had found, and had already concluded from reading novels in the genre in his old life: cultivation was everything, and it was the same reason they were stuck in the middle ages. Strength was everything. And in Glory City, even more so because of the conditions the city found itself in; everything could end in one night. But well, Long Tian wasn't having it and was in the process of using the most versatile thing this world had to change everything. He was going to facilitate daily life using Inscription Patterns, the very same thing they only thought had combat uses.
But those were ambitions the boy kept locked away, secrets being forged within the silent solitude of the space's house.
On another note, something that wasn't a secret in the Heavenly Dragon Family Territory, or even in Glory City, was the expedition. This was partially because of the spies—a problem that Long Xun and Long Wei were on the verge of completely eliminating, at least those inside the family—and partially because the Snow Wind Family had divulged the operation some days ago.
That's why a huge crowd had formed in front of the family's mansion. They were sending the family's experts off. It was the first expedition in more than ten years.
"I will be back," Long Qingxiao kissed his wife's forehead after saying his goodbye. He then looked to his son. "Take care of your mother and the family in my absence."
Long Tian merely nodded. He despised these public occasions. The mental gymnastics required to convincingly portray a five-year-old were exhausting, and with observers from the Snow Wind Family present, any slip could invite unwanted questions. Silence was his safest armor.
The Patriarch knew his son's discomfort and just messed with his hair, much to the kid's annoyance and every other family member's amusement.
"Uncle, Grandmother insisted you should stay with the family to help her take care of things, and I very much agree," Long Qingxiao said to Long Jian, who nodded. But he wasn't exactly happy, even if he understood the reasons. "But I promise, if I find anything that could be of use to you, I will bring it back. Take care."
The man looked to his grandmother, and both only nodded to each other. He then proceeded to the front of the party he would lead. The other members had already said their goodbyes and were prepared.
The same for Ye Chen and his group. The fact that his wife knew the man was a surprise, but a welcome one. Zi Rou had attested to his talent and character, things she knew from their institute days when she had joined the genius class.
Looking at his group, composed of his uncle Long Feng, and elders Long Shan, Long Hai, Long Min, and Long Tao, he felt prepared. All of them were in the Silver rank and had traded their old techniques for the complete versions. And beyond them, the clan was sending fifteen more Bronze rank experts, most of them at the peak of their rank. This was all added to Ye Chen's group of ten Gold ranks, with the man himself being at the peak of the Gold rank.
He felt it was a good group. They would succeed.
"Let's go!" Long Qingxiao said, adjusting his fighting hammer on his back.
And as they walked, the crowd cheered, sending them off with good wishes and prayers that this expedition would be a successful one.
The walk through the city had been a new experience for the group, with people lining the way until the city gates to send their well wishes. While it was a new experience for them, it was actually a common occurrence in the city when expeditions had such a faraway destination.
"That felt good," Ye Chen broke the silence. He wasn't much different from his brother in appearance but leaned toward a leaner build and had a warmth in his eyes.
And he was right; that really felt good, and Long Qingxiao could admit that. "Yes. That indeed felt good. But I believe we need to make haste and see if we can find a good place to camp for the night. This ice wasteland outside the city won't continue for long."
The group nodded and hastened their pace.
To Ye Chen's surprise, the Bronze rank group kept up with them well enough. Even if they weren't exactly at their max speed, seventy percent of a Gold rank's pace was something a Bronze rank cultivator shouldn't be able to keep up with in such a comfortable way.
Is that why Father values them so much? Their bodies? he thought to himself.
The group proceeded in silence for a couple of hours until they finally reached the forest. Luckily, and strangely, no demon beast attacked them. Usually, Snow Wind Dire Wolves traveled through the wasteland by themselves, which was the reason it was dangerous to even go to the caves in the St. Ancestral Mountain Range.
But that wouldn't be the case forever, and just as they reached the entrance of the forest, Long Qingxiao raised his hand, stopping the group.
"There's an ambush ahead," he said in a low voice.
"Oh? How do you know?" Ye Chen asked curiously. He had some experience going outside to hunt. From what his brother had said, Long Qingxiao had only fought when the city was attacked by smaller hordes. So, how did he know?
The group leader shrugged his shoulders and said, "It isn't exactly a secret, so there's no problem telling you. My Demon Spirit is very sensitive in a forest." A half-truth. In fact, the Verdant Dragon Scripture—the Wood Branch technique—starts to connect more deeply with its attribute when the Black Gold segment is being cultivated. He couldn't feel much, but it was enough to sense such an ambush. The group didn't question his assessment or his explanation.
"How many? I feel eight," said Ye Chen. The real number was a bit higher, and he knew it.
"Thirteen, mostly with cultivation in the Silver ranks," Long Qingxiao said without looking at the man. He knew he was being tested but cared little because he also knew it didn't come from a bad place. "But it's strange," he warned.
"How strange?" asked a Gold rank expert behind them.
"The leader is probably the Gold rank, but…" he paused. "It will seem unbelievable, but the real leader seems to be a Silver rank further behind. I believe they are Snow Wind Direwolves."
"Not really a strange occurrence, Patriarch Long," said Ye Chen, attracting the group's attention. "In my hunts, I've encountered such an occasion before, mostly in pack hunters. And we surely have to pay attention to that beast; they are usually more cunning, using the pack to hide and deliver surprise attacks," he explained and warned the group.
Long Qingxiao nodded but still thought it had nothing to do with using the group to attack. "My group will go on ahead and attract them. I believe it won't be necessary, but in any case, your group can protect our rear," he said to Ye Chen.
Ye Zong's younger brother was a bit surprised, but not as much as he was curious, so he nodded and made the signal to his group to hold back.
The Heavenly Dragon Family Patriarch made a signal to his group to move, and so they did, compactly. They entered the forest, and nothing happened. The beasts were circling them: five beasts to each side and three in front, including the Gold rank one. The group leader made a signal for them to stop and draw their weapons, and so they did.
Long Qingxiao took the hammer from his back, but he didn't look to his sides; he was focused on the front.
An unnatural silence fell over the forest, the kind that precedes violence. Then, the silence shattered.
With a sharp crack of splintering branches and a predatory woosh of displaced air, the beasts moved. They were massive white wolves, dwarfing even Long Qingxiao in size by twice as much.
The group quickly sprang into action. On the left flank, Long Tao and Long Shan, along with eight Bronze ranks, engaged the wolves. On the right, Long Feng, Long Hai, and Long Min took the rest. The battle was a testament to their new techniques. Long Shan, despite being a star-rank below his opponent, easily handled every paw swipe and lunge from a Three-Star Silver demon beast, his body reinforced by his cultivation. A healing mist descended from Long Min, now a Four-Star Silver rank, sealing the minor cuts on the Bronze ranks and renewing their stamina with the first skill of the Abyssal Dragon's Flow Art. With their vitality restored, the group dealt with the beasts easily. Long Feng and Long Hai were practically toying with their opponents, their spear and saber moving with deadly grace. The first kill went to Long Tao, who unleashed the signature skill of the Crimson Dragon's Decree Art, Crimson Pike. A crimson beam launched from his lips and solidified into a pike, tearing a wolf apart, as the mangled corpse could attest to.
Long Qingxiao smiled as he felt two beasts come in his direction. The Gold rank one was leading the charge while the Five-Star Silver rank one came from behind. The third wolf had left, but he didn't have time to concern himself with that now.
The massive beast jumped at him, and he caught its fangs with the handle of his hammer. With a kick, he sent the beast flying away from him and adjusted his grip. The second beast was already almost on top of him when he swung his hammer from below to the top, and only the beast's dying sound marked its end.
But he didn't have time to relax. The Gold rank wolf was on him again, this time with its claws. He easily parried the attack, moving with extreme grace as he did so.
Seeing that he couldn't get enough from this fight to simulate a breakthrough, he channeled his soul force, and spectral vine roots shot from the floor at the beast. It was the first skill from his technique: Binding Roots, used to restrain and slowly weaken an enemy's stamina. It was a move he didn't need to make, but he knew his expedition partner wanted to see their techniques in action.
And with the beast restrained and on the floor, his hammer came down from above to end its life.
"That was fast," came the voice of Ye Chen from behind. "Now I can see why my father values your family so much." The fight was indeed quick; after Long Tao's kill, the beasts had fallen one after another easily. Not even the Bronze ranks had much trouble.
"Thirteen beasts, you said, Patriarch Long," a man from Ye Chen's group remarked, his tone laced with a dry skepticism that stopped just short of open mockery. "Your count seems to have been precise."
"The last one left," it was Ye Chen who said in a serious tone, shutting down the laughs that were starting to surface.
The group leader only shrugged off the man's humorous comment and said to his leading partner, "I said it was strange. I didn't see it, but it was like the beast was analyzing the fight. The moment these two beasts came at me, the other one ran. It knew it was a losing battle."
"It seems you're thinking too much about a coward beast, Patriarch Long," the same man said humorously, but this time he didn't get any laughs.
Long Qingxiao looked at the man and walked to his men without saying anything.
"You, go patrol the perimeter," Ye Chen ordered the man, who was opening his mouth to complain. "You said his scouting was faulty, didn't you? Go see if he didn't let anything pass. We can't be surprised, can we?" The man bowed his head and was gone.
Long Qingxiao cared little for the man's words and even less about Ye Chen sending him away. Now he was more focused on his team. Nobody had died, and the coordination of the Bronze ranks was surprisingly good. "How are things going, Elder Min?" he asked the only woman on his council team and the one responsible for the group's health.
"Everything is fine, Patriarch, but I really think fighting in the wilderness isn't my thing," she complained.
"Yeah, I know. But since Elder Shan can't use the Healing Mist for some reason, you were the only one capable of it in the family, beyond Elder Hui. I couldn't bring both Elders from Internal Affairs, could I?" he said to her, and she nodded. She wasn't exactly happy, but he knew she would do her part. "Speaking of which, Elder Long Tao," he called, and the man approached. "How was the skill?" he asked. It was the first time they were out of the city, so reports were needed.
"I felt it was powerful, Patriarch, but…" he pondered before saying, "The soul force drain is absurd, more than I thought it would be."
It was a problem. They knew little about the skills because it was extremely hard to practice them inside the city. "We will need to be more cautious then. Use your skill only as a last resort. We can't have you drained in an important battle." The man nodded, and Long Qingxiao continued to ask, "Any demon spirits in these beasts?"
The man shook his head. "Not really, and we can't take anything with us. The rings are full of supplies."
Long Qingxiao signaled to his men to take the resources the beasts had to offer. The group moved, and so did he, in the direction of Ye Chen, who was sitting on a stone.
"What do you need, Patriarch Long?" the man asked as he saw Long Qingxiao approach.
"I want to sell the beast parts to you," he offered, direct and to the point. They needed to move.
"Your rings can't take it? If so, I'm interested. I will buy everything your group has to sell, twenty percent below the market price," he proposed.
"Fifteen, and no haggling. We can't take it, but our deal was that every group takes what it kills or finds, so this is our hunt," Long Qingxiao countered and extended his hand, which the man took without much thought.
"We have a deal. Have one of your men take notes, and I will have one of mine do the same. When we get back to the city, we will compare the notes and end the deal, agreed?" Ye Chen said, and Long Qingxiao shook his hand.
Then both of them called their respective resources person. In the case of Long Qingxiao, it was Long Tao, who was responsible for the resources on this trip.
After the deal was done and the numbers noted, they prepared to move on.
The trip was just beginning, and that was only the first ambush they would encounter.