Chapter 111: Joining a Team
The night quietly slipped by. When the sky began to brighten the next morning, the sleeping Xiao Yan opened his eyes punctually. During this period of living in the wild, he managed to accurately tune his internal clock.
After a night of deep sleep, the exhaustion that originated from deep within his body had completely vanished and was replaced by a great vigor.
From his bed, he sat up and crossed his legs, adopting the training pose before he once again closed his eyes. The early morning hours were the best time to train his Dou Qi. Moreover, Dou Qi training was like rowing a boat against the flow. If one did not advance, one would fall behind; only by persevering could one truly succeed.
Following the increasingly steady breathing of Xiao Yan, the calm air around him suddenly acted like a wave as it began to oscillate, emitting a continuous stream of Dou Qi.
After the previous day’s intense training, Xiao Yan’s skin was like a sponge. As long as any part of his skin came into contact with the Dou Qi around him, his numerous pores would rush to open and greedily swallow the continuous stream of Dou Qi.
While his pores were greedily swallowing the Dou Qi, most of the Dou Qi around Xiao Yan was being sucked into his body through his breath. Then, they passed through a few specially selected Qi pathes predetermined by the Qi method. It was subsequently refined and slowly deposited by Xiao Yan into a small, ever suspending, cyclone within him.
The Dou Qi training continued for over an hour. Only when the room was completely lit by the sunlight passing through the window did Xiao Yan finally stop and break his stance. A mouthful of slightly feculent breath was slowly released.
Xiao Yan’s black eyes gradually opened and a pale yellow light flashed within them before subsequently disappearing into the deepest part of his eyes.
“At this rate, I might be able to become a five star Dou Zhe in half a year’s time. Unexpectedly, this tough training is so effective.” Xiao Yan stretched lazily and upon hearing the bone cracking sound from within his body, a smile appeared on Xiao Yan’s face.
“Today, I will be entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range.”
After jumping off the bed, Xiao Yan briefly washed his face in his room before walking back to the bedside and helplessly staring at the strange black broadsword.
Bending his legs slightly, Xiao Yan let out a deep breath. His arms bent slightly and like an eagle claw, firmly grabbed the sword’s hilt. His feet stepped heavily on the ground as he called in a low voice, “Rise!”
With Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi revolving around them, the strength of his arms was sufficient to chop down a large tree. When this kind of strength was used on the huge sword, however, it was barely enough to slowly lift it off the ground.
Xiao Yan bent his back forward; his face was already red and his breath was becoming ragged. With another low cry, the huge sword was finally thrown onto his back, instantly causing his body to sink towards the ground. Luckily, Xiao Yan was prepared. He clenched his teeth and a moment later, his body slowly straightened.
“Dammit, it’s too scary…” Xiao Yan bitterly said as he wiped the cold perspiration from his forehead.
After patting his palm on the huge black sword, Xiao Yan once again opened his stride and headed out of his room. After adapting for a few days, he no longer caused the ground to tremor each time he took a step while carrying the huge sword on his back.
Within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, the Magic beasts roamed, filling the place with danger. Walking alone within it would easily attract an attack from these Magic beasts. Therefore, other than those who were very strong, most mercenaries formed groups before entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
With Xiao Yan’s current strength, he could at the very most handle a rank one Magic Beast. Therefore, he did not have the ability to run around within the Magic Beast Mountain Range by himself.
Of course, this was only true if he excluded Yao Lao interfering to help him.
However, Yao Lao had said on the first day of his hard training that during this training period, unless Xiao Yan’s life was really threatened, he would not intervene to resolve any trouble. In other words, in the days ahead, even if Xiao Yan had Yao Lao as a trump card, he could not carelessly use it. All the trouble he faced must be resolved by himself first.
Although Xiao Yan was frustrated with this, he could only helplessly accept it. He knew that Yao Lao’s action came from a fear of Xiao Yan losing his alertness and sense of danger under the former’s protection.
A baby eagle who always hides under the shadow of his mother’s wing will never learn what it is to truly be free. It is only through danger will one’s potential burst and take to the skies.
Yao Lao did not want Xiao Yan to become a baby eagle who only knew how to hide behind another’s back. Hence, he had to let Xiao Yan understand his current position.
After walking to the the end of the street, Xiao Yan arrived at the other exit out of the town. This exit led to the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
At the exit of the town, there were many mercenaries who had gathered. There were voices crying out one after another, continuously calling out to those solo mercenaries who wished to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
The mercenaries in the small town were divided into three categories. The first category were mercenary companies with strict rules. There were only three such groups within the Qingshan Town and they had around a hundred members each. Most of their members had at least the strength of a Dou Zhe and the leader of each of the three groups was a strong Dou Shi. It could be said that these groups were among the strongest forces in Qingshan Town.
The second type of category was comprised of mercenary teams that were formed at the last minute. These kind of teams would be disbanded after completing a mission. Their trust in each other as well as their ability to cooperate could not be compared to the formal mercenary company.
The third type of mercenary was comprised of the solo mercenaries. These people often had some hidden trump cards.
The currently shouting mercenaries at the entrance of the small town belonged to the second type.
Standing at one corner, Xiao Yan did not immediately join any mercenary team. Instead, he was secretly observing which group was more professional. After all, within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, any negligence could lead to their death.
Just as Xiao Yan was looking for a satisfactory team , a commotion erupted at the entrance of the small town. An excited shout echoed, “The ‘Thousand Medicinal House’ is planning to enter the Magic Mountain Range to gather medicinal herbs. Accompanying them will be the Fairy Doctor. There are only fifty slots. For those who are a two star Dou Zhe and above, please hurry!”
The loud cry had caused the noisy entrance into the small town to become quiet. A moment later, everyone turned to face each other. The mercenaries who thought that they met the requirements immediately rushed towards the middle aged man from the ‘Thousand Medicinal House’.”
Blankly staring at the sudden raving mercenaries, Xiao Yan blinked his eyes. After a moment of silence, he also rushed forward and joined the crowd.
With so many people entering the Magic Beast Mountain range as a group, a normal Magic Beast would definitely not dare to simply attack them, thus increasing their chances of surviving. As long as he could find a secluded and safe training spot during the journey, he could easily and reassuringly leave the team.
What he had heard from the shop assistant in the ‘Thousand Medicine House’ yesterday was indeed true. The Fairy Doctor’ name was more effective than anything in Qingshan Town. The fifty slots had caused people to fight over it. However, Xiao Yan managed to use his small body to squeeze through the gaps of the crowd and get to the front.
“There is still one more position!” The middle aged man smiled to the squeezing crowd as he waved the goat skill scroll in his hand.
“Me!” A young man said with a somewhat tender voice. He was slightly out of breath as he walked towards the middle age man.
“Huh?” Eyeing the young man in front of him who was only seventeen or eighteen, the middle aged man froze. He immediately smiled and said, “Little boy, our criteria is a two star! Dou Zhe!” The middle aged man emphasized the last four words. Obviously, he did not believe that this young man in his teens had achieved this requirement.
“Where has this child come from? To create trouble when his beard was not even grown.”
“Move aside, little body. Don’t waste all of our time.”
Seeing that the last spot was snatched away by a young man, the surrounding mercenaries immediately scolded.
Xiao Yan ignored these rantings as he took two step forward, He stood in line with a tree which was two arms thick. His fist suddenly tightened and a pale yellow Dou Qi formed a layer over it like a curtain of light. Then, with a low cry, Xiao Yan ruthlessly smashed his fist against the tree trunk, unleashing the ferocious force on his hand.
“Ka Cha.”
Following the clear noise, the thick and strong tree fell onto the ground in front of everyone’s eyes, lifting the dust from the ground.
“Is this enough?”
Clapping his hands, Xiao Yan asked the stunned middle aged man.
“Keke, little boy, you do have quite a great talent. To be able to reach a two star Dou Zhe at your age, a genius.” Nodding his head in amazement, the middle aged man spoke to Xiao Yan with a smile, “Alright, this last spot is yours. The pay is five hundred gold coins and your job is to escort the ‘Thousand Medicine House’ medicine gathering team. I will pay you half of it first. The other half will be paid when we return.”
“Alright.” Xiao Yan smiled as he nodded, He was not interested in the five hundred gold coin remuneration. What he needed was for the team to help him find a safe place to train.
After seeing that the last spot was taken by this unknown little boy, the surrounding mercenaries immediately began to disperse. As they left however, they did not forget to throw Xiao Yan a curious gaze.
The great talent needed to become a two star Dou Zhe at seventeen or eighteen was something that was a rare sight within Qingshan Town!