For days on end, Cang Tian fought his way through the mountain range, gaining experience and strength from every battle. He found that the more he used his Rinnegan, the more he unlocked its true abilities.
Now, standing atop a large tree with the upper part of his robes torn to shreds, Cang Tian looked out into the world, his eyes filled with wonder.
"So this…is the world of martial artists."
He could see energy flowing freely through the sky in all different directions. In some places the energy was thicker and flowed faster. He guessed that those places must be spots where the stronger beasts congregated to cultivate themselves.
Cang Tian had also discovered another ability of the Rinnegan. The ability to tap into a seventh path, called the Outer Path. This allowed him to manifest black receivers/rods and strange chains made from energy not dissimilar to the one martial artists use.
It also offered him more abilities, but he couldn't access as he was missing some sort of 'power' to do so.
Jumping off the tree, Cang Tian sighed as he looked at the sun shining high above.
"I still have a long way to go…I can feel it. What is my next path forward?"
*rustle* *rustle*
Cang Tian immediately jumped back, summoned a short black receiver in his hand and turned his truth-seeking orb into a shield, ready for battle.
Small noises like that meant that a beast was lurking in the bushes, ready to pounce at him anytime.
Of course, he had already located the energy of the beast. It was moving slowly towards him, eyeing him with aggressive, hungry eyes.
But…
"It's injured. Was someone else fighting it? Or was this work of another beast?"
WHOOSH!
Noticing that its prey had already identified it, the beast ran out of the bushes, the heat from its body burning several meters of forest around it.
Placing a palm forward, Cang Tian absorbed the flames using the Preta Path and made a small gesture with his fingers.
SLICE!
The shield made from his truth-seeking orb could also be used as a sharp disc to slice through even the thickest rocks and boulders as if they were made of paper.
So of course, meat and flesh could not withstand it.
The lizard's body fell into two as the life rapidly evaporated from its eyes.
"Hm. Battle against these low-level beasts has become much easier."
Walking up the beast and inspecting it, Cang Tian soon realized what kind of lizard it was.
It was a Scarlet Drill Lizard.
A profound beast that only existed in the Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range.
"Guess I now know what Mountain Range I found myself in. Father had mentioned that a legendary dragon resided in the center of these mountains, but I don't know how true that is. When I go deeper…I'll just confirm that rumor for myself."
As Cang Tian thought about what he should do with the body, two figures suddenly appeared out of the bushes, their weapons drawn.
Looking at the dead Scarlet Drill Lizard on the ground, anger could be seen flashing through the eyes of the new arrivals.
As their bloodied blue robes flew gracefully in the afternoon wind, the young man standing up front stared at Cang Tian and said, "Let's not mince words, friend. You've stolen our kill. I would prefer not to fight about this, so let's make a deal. Let's just have the profound core and you can take the body."
Of course, Cang Tian wasn't surprised by their arrival. He had sensed them coming as soon as he killed the beast. If he guessed right, they were waiting for the beast to be weakened even more from fighting him, then they would swoop in and grab the spoils.
But, in this situation, Cang Tian wasn't going to fight over a beast that didn't matter to him at all.
"It's my fault, friends. You can have the core and the body, I truly didn't mean to get in your way."
The two young men were surprised at how cordial Cang Tian was being as situations like these usually end in a life and death battle between both sides due to greed.
If he was going to leave it like this, then there was no reason to fight.
"Heh, then, I won't stand on ceremony anymore. Thank you."
Cang Tian gave a respectful salute and turned around, heading deeper into the Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range. After all, the deeper he went, the stronger enemies he would face and the more experience he would gain.
"Hold on. The beasts core has been destroyed. At first, I was willing to let the fact that you destroyed this precious beasts body go due to the core being intact, but now that I see it close up, it was destroyed in the process."
Cang Tian stopped in his tracks, slightly glancing back at the two men who were slowly drawing closer, their purple energy circulating around them.
"So, what do you want to do?"
This time, the other young man spoke. He seemed older and his words were far sharper.
"Xuan Feng, don't waste anymore time talking to this rat. He's not even a true cultivator yet! Some elder probably gave him a treasure to survive and that's what he's using."
Turning his greedy gaze to Cang Tian's waist in search of a treasure bag, he continued, "Boy, hand over everything you have and we, the Profound Heart Sect, will forgive you. Today is our outer sect disciple promotion test. If you resist, heh, I'll have everyone chase you to the ends of the earth until you die!"
Xuan Feng sighed and a trace of pity flashed in his eyes, but he soon steeled his resolve to take Cang Tian for all he's worth.
Cang Tian turned around with a dark gaze in his eyes. Hearing the young man and Xuan Feng promise to chase him viciously until death, triggered the memories of what his mother went through.
Just because he was weaker and committed a mistake out of ignorance and survival, meant he deserved death. To them, maybe weakness was a sin deserving of death itself.
And if that was how it was going to be…
Cang Tian shot a long black receiver in the shape of a staff out of his palms and got into a low stance with it, one hand extended forward, his eyes fixed on his two opponents.
"Then, as you would've said, Xuan Feng. Let's not stand on ceremony. Come!"
BOOM!
Like a raging beast, Cang Tian rushed forward, each footstep creating a deep imprint in the ground. Startled by this sudden advance, the young man tightened the grip on his sword and rushed forward, swiping rapidly with his blade as it came into contact against Cang Tian's staff.
'His blade technique is graceful, but it's not hard to see through. If I had to guess, he just started learning it. In a few moves, he'll be defeated.'
Twirling his staff as if it was part of his own body, Cang Tian deflected the sword attacks and dodged the last one by a hair, surprising the young man.
'An early stage body cultivator! No wonder we couldn't sense any profound energy! We have to deal with him quickly!'
Kicking Cang Tian in the chest to create distance between them, the man jumped back and turned to Xuan Feng, shouting, "Let's fight him together! He's a body cultivator so we need to overwhelm him quickly!"
Xuan Feng nodded his head and followed suit, rushing into battle head first with his fellow disciple.
Clicking his teeth, Cang Tian flicked the staff towards to two and kicked it with all his might, causing the staff to accelerate so fast that Xuan Feng's face was charred black from the friction even though he dodged it.
Using this as a distraction, he jumped back and spun rapidly midair, sending out several black receivers in seemingly random directions.
Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to defend himself from the incoming attack.
'Purple Heart Blade: Severing Strike!'
'Boundless Sword: Raging Waters!'
The two martial artists were surrounded in a light aura of energy as they delivered multiple slashes with their swords, sending Cang Tian flying back through multiple trees from the impact.
Blood poured from his mouth and sword wounds as he sat against the tree, his eyes locked on the two young men rapidly approaching him.
Just as they were about to finish him off, he clasped his hands as the Rinnegan shone with a bright sinister light.
CHINGGGG!!!!
An innumerable amount of energy chains shot out of the black receivers Cang Tian spread around before, capturing the two young men and stopping them completely just as their blades were about to pierce him.
Seeing that they were unable to move, Cang Tian slowly got up as his wounds began to heal, laughing as he laid one hand each on their heads.
"You! What strange profound skill is this?! I thought you were a body cultivator!"
No matter how much the young man tried, he couldn't escape. In fact, it felt as if his energy was sealed.
Xuan Feng suffered the same fate. He couldn't move a centimeter under the might of these chains.
Just as he was about to try to convince Cang Tian to spare them, the latter interjected, saying coldly, "Don't even bother. I'm tired of having to suffer at the hands of you overbearing martial artists. Take heed though, the knowledge you gained in this lifetime will be put to good use."
Using the Human Path, Cang Tian read their memories, extracting everything he could from their birth up to now. Even their deepest, well guarded secrets were seen by him.
As he did this, their eyes rolled back into their heads and drool poured out of their mouths like a river.
For all intents and purposes, they were already half-dead.
Seeing their pathetic state, Cang Tian finished reading their memories and removed his palms in a ruthless manner, drawing two human shaped silhouettes of energy from their bodies. These, were their souls.
Crushing the two souls in his palms, Cang Tian watched closely as the two men died on the spot, their bodies going limp under the tight grip of the chains.
This was the first time he killed people. Although he understood that this was a baptism of blood he had to go through to achieve his goal, this feeling was still heart wrenching.
"I need to harden my heart. Strengthen my will. Only then could I stand against those who have no heart to begin with."
Closing his hand into a fist, the chains started tightening rapidly until the bodies exploded with a disgusting sound, turning into nothing more than shredded mush.
Taking a deep breath, Cang Tian grabbed their treasure bags combined with his scattered black receivers and started walking deeper into the forest, seeking stronger opponents.
But before he got to fighting again, there was something interesting he discovered from the memories of the two young men.
Information on what was called [The Profound Way].
'It's finally time to step onto the road of martial arts!'