A few hours later, Wu Zhe had taken the man's sword and other valuables, which included a pouch full of gold. He had also taken the horse the man had been riding, using it as a mount to traverse the forest.
The forest was eerily quiet, with no sign of life. Wu Zhe hadn't seen a single movement or sound as he traversed it.
"Sssssk—ssssss…!"
A drawn-out, hiss suddenly alerted Wu Zhe. He instantly yanked the reins, forcing the horse to halt.
Wu Zhe leapt from the horse onto the treetops, moving from one tree to another as he tried to locate the source of the sound. That was when he saw it.
A colossal snake, its massive body looking injured and tired on the verge of death. Surrounding it stood several young people. Their swords were stained with blood, and a few of them clutched their arms or sides, clearly they had been injured from this battle.
"Senior brothers! It's almost dead! We must push forward!" one of them shouted.
"Ha… indeed, we're lucky," another said breathing heavily. "To think we'd find an injured juvenile viper beast outside the Blight Lands. Truly, this is a fortuitous opportunity…"
Hidden among the branches, Wu Zhe quietly listened to their conversation.
He remained perfectly still, suppressing his breathing, and presence as he observed the people below. His eyes moved between the giant serpent and the young cultivators surrounding it.
From their words alone, he could already guess most of what was happening.
They had discovered the beast while it was injured and were trying to finish it off to claim its corpse. After all, creatures from Blighted Wilds often contained valuable materials for cultivation, medicine, or other purposes, their bodies alone were considered highly valuable.
Wu Zhe stayed hidden, carefully watching.
After a couple, minutes of striking together the group eventually slew the beast.
"Is it dead?" a disciple muttered.
The disciple narrowed his eyes, listening carefully. After a brief pause, he began moving toward the snake, stepping slowly and cautiously. He picked up a rock and tossed it at the creature. It struck the beast without any reaction.
Still wary, he stepped closer, keeping his body angled away. From just beyond striking range, he thrusted his sword, cleanly piercing the snake's head.
When it still didn't move or attempt to defend itself, he finally confirmed, it was dead.
"Ha… it's dead seni—" but his words were cut short, feeling a stab from behind him, he turned out seeing his senior brother stab him.
"Wh—" he muttered before collapsing.
"Everybody get back!"
Wu Zhe was about to act when he noticed the snake was dead, but it seemed he didn't need to, as greed had already taken a hold of this group.
From the group only four remained including the man who just stabbed his junior brother.
As soon as the man stabbed the other disciple in the back, all three drew their weapons against him. He turned, his back against the beast's body.
"This beast is mine!" he shouted, his head darting erratically as he eyed all three.
"Why don't we just split it?" one of them called out.
"Hah. Split it? With you? What did you even do, except sit in the back while we fought it?" another voice interjected from among the three.
"Hah? if we're going based on who did the most then that thing belong to me! I did the most!"
"Why base it on such useless shit. Whoever is strongest should obviously be the one to keep it." another said, eying everyone.
As soon as that disciple spoke, the three disciples who had their weapons drawn on the lone disciple suddenly turned against each-other, creating a standoff with everyone present.
All four eyed each other carefully, each clearly coveting the beast's corpse for themselves.
Wu Zhe watched as they tore into one another, their swords clashing violently, until only two remained, the others having been slaughtered.
"Stop! Please, I surrender! You can have this damned beast!" he pleaded, desperation in his voice.
"Ha…" the man exhaled, eyeing the pleading disciple in front of him. A rush of dominance surged through him as he watched the disciple beg for his life, reveling in the power of deciding another's fate.
"No," he muttered, plunging his sword into the man's throat, his eyes widening as the blade sank deeper.
After seeing the bodies around him, a surge of superiority washed over him, an almost ecstatic feeling coursed through his veins.
As Wu Zhe watched, he felt only disgust. How could killing someone make a person feel like that? To him, the act of sending someone into the death's embrace was something entirely different from what this disciple was indulging in.
Thus, Wu Zhe detested it, and felt the urge to teach this impure being a lesson.
After confirming everyone was truly dead, the disciple hurried toward the beast's body, his eyes glistening at the thought of the rewards it held.
But the moment he reached it, his body suddenly froze. Something had fallen nearby. His expression tightened as he immediately scanned his surroundings.
"Who's there!" he shouted.
"How dare you!" a voice replied shouting back at him.
"Who are you?" he asked nervously. Raising his sword The fight over the snake had taken its toll, he knew he couldn't handle another battle.
"I don't know who you are… but I am part of the Parting Sect!"
"Silence! You damned, cursed being! How dare you indulge in your emotions while committing the purest act of salvation? You wretched thing! You taint the very greatness of death with your disgusting existence!" Wu Zhe shouted, his eyes burning with genuine anger.
The man froze, confusion flashing across his face.
"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? You think you're above me?" The man said tightening his grip on his sword.
Wu Zhe's gaze fixed on the man, his eyes still burning with anger.
"Above you?" he muttered. "Fool."
In the next instant, Wu Zhe charged forward, raising his sword without the use of Qi, it seemed he intended to drag on this fight.
The man noticed Wu Zhe charging forward and immediately raised his sword to block. When their swords collided, he nearly staggered back, his arms trembling from the sheer force of Wu Zhe's strike.
Wu Zhe didn't stop. He moved aggressively, striking so fast that the man had no chance to counterattack and could only desperately block the relentless blows Wu Zhe unleashed.
"You dare to ruin the purity of death… you are disgusting, a truly stain upon this impure world," Wu Zhe muttered as their swords clashed.
The man gritted his teeth, barely holding on. "Shut up!"
Wu Zhe's eyes narrowed slightly.
"To kill is to return one to the void's pure sanctuary," he said, his voice slowly becoming calmer. "Yet you've drowned it in filth… with your worthless emotions."
Then, as if a switch had flipped inside him, his calmness shattered.
"DISGUSTING!"
"DISGUSTING!"
"DISGUSTING!"
"DISGUSTING!"
"DISGUSTING!"
Wu Zhe shouted the words over and over, his eyes wild, his body trembling slightly with each scream
"DISGUSTING!"
While Wu Zhe yelled, he continued his relentless assault on the man.
"DISGUSTING!"
"DISGUSTING!"
Until the man couldn't guard a strike from Wu Zhe in time.
"DISGUST—"
"Impossi—" he muttered before collapsing, lifelessly.
The man's body split in half. The sword slipping from his hand.
"Existence… look at the impurity you've created…" Wu Zhe murmured, his gaze lingering coldly on the corpse.
Wu Zhe stood still for a moment, continuing to stare down at the corpse.
There was no satisfaction in him. Only a lingering feeling of disgust.
"This world…" he muttered quietly. "Truly needs saving."
Wu Zhe eventually calmed himself, his breathing calming down as his gaze drifted toward the other fresh corpses, and the thoughts of the immense lifeforce they held.
He sat down, meditating, as an immense amount of dark Qi swirled chaotically around him.
His hair lifted, caused by the gathering lifeforce, as he absorbed their lifeforce.
Wu Zhe suddenly groaned, clutching his head, as the memories of all of them flooded into his mind simultaneously.
"Understood, elder!" he saw a disciple bowing before an elder.
The beast's memories surged as well, filled with immense fear as it fled the blighted wilds.
"Ha…" Wu Zhe muttered, sweat rolling down his body.
As he prepared to stand, a sudden sensation struck him, it was the same as when he took that cultivator Qi hus body felt as though it had reached its limit, ready to explode. He recognized it immediately: the state known as a "Breakthrough."
As a cultivator gathers Qi, they gradually progress toward "breaking through" to a higher realm, as the body or more specifically the dantian had a limit to how much Qi it can contain. Once that limit is reached, a breakthrough occurs, allowing the cultivator to ascend to a higher realm, stage, or cultivation rank, etc. With each breakthrough, the dantian expands, enabling it to store a greater amount of Qi. At the same time, the cultivator's body becomes stronger, their senses sharpen, and their Qi grows purer and more refined. This allows them to unleash far greater power, move with unnatural speeds, and even withstand damage that would normally be fatal. Their Techniques become more destructive, and their control over Qi deepens, letting them manipulate it in more complex ways. As a cultivator continue to ascend, they begin to defy normal limits entirely, performing feats that would seem impossible to mortals, as if were are stepping beyond the boundaries of mortals.
—————————
Wu Zhe's eyes hardened. "No… I can't break through now."
He forcefully suppressed the breakthrough.
The reason for this is because he had just broken through less than twelve hours ago. To break through again while still having internal injuries and with his foundation not yet stabilized, it was no different from sabotaging his own future cultivation.
Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing and guided the raging Qi back into calm circulation, forcing it to settle rather than erupt.
Minutes passed.
The Qi surrounding him slowly dissipated, dispersing into the air. The pressure of fullment within his body eased, returning to a controlled, stable state.
Wu Zhe exhaled softly.
Wu Zhe by the remains, rummaging through the torn clothing of the skeletal corpses and taking anything of value.
When he finished, he made his way to the beast. Without wasting time, he began carving into it, slicing through flesh and bone with carefully precision. He extracted its fangs, several scales, and took anything that he thought were of remote value, storing them in a pouch fastened behind the horse.
Just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye.
A faint glint from within the beast's carcass.
Wu Zhe paused, narrowing his eyes. He crouched again and carefully cut deeper, his cuts careful to avoid damaging whatever was inside.
A moment later, it slipped free.
A small green orb rolled out onto the ground, covered with the beast blood.