8
Tianmu continent.
Tian qian province.
Qian mountain range.
'We did it! Teacher we are out!'
Bai li yue looked at the tree from which she had emerged. The surrounding forest looked similar to the one inside the natural array, but the feeling was totally different.
There are different types of sound out here otherwise she wouldn't be sure if they'd truly escaped.
She flew up to the top of a tree to determine her location. She heard the sound of hooves to the west.
'Too bad! i don't have time to satisfy my curiosity. I'm kind of busy right now.'
The nearest peak was to the north, which meant that she had to journey in that direction and go around it before going north east.
She stored the map and disappeared. She appeared about 200 metres away on another tree.
She already had a plan in mind. Cultivating whiles travelling provided her with a lot of spiritual energy. She should be able to travel further each day before running out of strength. She only needed about 3 hours to rest, eat and regain her strength before setting off again. If she held to the gruelling schedule, she might make it to jingqian province in time to save her teacher. He had been endlessly kind and generous to her. She was willing to do more than this to save him.
She cleared her mind of all thoughts and focused on moving to the rhythm of the wind and rotating the spiritual energy in her body.
Five days later, Bai li yue landed on a spot in the forest. She looked worse for the wear. Three days ago, she had taken the risk of cutting through the territory of an ironhide wild bull, instead of going the long way around. It had pursued her for two days before giving up and returning to its den. She hadn't had a moment of rest during the chase. Night had turned into day as she had wanted to put more distance between the two of them so she didn't stop till now. She took a long drink and chewed a handful of dried berries. She tore a leg from the whole roasted rabbit and made short work of it. One more roasted rabbit remained before she would have to hunt for food. She sat under a tree and checked her map once again. Her orientation was off when she looked at the position of the stars. She had gone a little bit off course but cutting through the savage beast's territory had saved her some time.
Bai li yue was feeling refreshed a few hours later. She stretched her limbs and leapt off the ground into a tree. She realised as she travelled that her movement skill was being perfected little by little. She was now appearing consistently exactly 200 metres away from her previous position. If she was lucky enough to have a breakthrough soon, she was confident that the distance would increase further and make her journey easier.
She had hoped in the beginning to use the journey to train her sword skill by fighting the savage beasts populated the forests and wilderness areas, but she had an important mission to complete. Whenever she met with a savage beast, she chose to continue her way as normal. Most of them kept a wary eye on the intruder until she left their territory. A few stubborn beasts gave chase only to give up when she didn't engage with them.
She stopped to take a bath and take a rest by a small pond just before dawn.
Bang!
Fortunately for her, the beast attacked before she undressed. The purple horned snake sprang out of the pond, jaws already wide open ready to swallow its prey.
She sidestepped the first attack which served to incense the large snake. It hissed and swung its thick tail at her.
' this snake! i don't have time to fight with you, okay? Go and look for someone else.'
Bai li yue said shooing it away and speeding off. Who knew the snake would be more stubborn than the bull?
Thinking that she had escaped safely, Bai li yue continued her journey cursing the snake for interrupting her rest.
She had just stopped in a clearing some miles away from the pond when she hairs on her skin rose sensing imminent danger. She disappeared not a moment too soon when the ground underneath her burst upward revealing the gaping maw of the snake. It's unsettling yellow eyed gaze met hers. She was perched at the top of a tree. Knowing that the surprise attack had failed, it retreated back into the hole.
By the next day, the purple horned snake quickly climbed high on the list of things she hated. It was threatening to overtake the sound of wet shoes at number one.
It had almost caught her unawares a number of times and it was proving to be a dangerous adversary. If this continued, she would become like a mouse waiting to be devoured when the cat was done playing.
She had ignored it at first choosing instead to continue moving forward. Teacher had told her about the savage beasts of the world. Some had high intelligence and were capable of cultivating. Had she perhaps encountered one of them?
'Did what i say anger it? Is that why it hasn't given up? Maybe if it can understand me, i could try explaining?'
As far as she was concerned, there was no harm in trying.
The next time it attacked, she was waiting.
' mister snake - madam snake? Can we talk?'
It hissed and slithered closer. She stepped back at the same time, maintaining an equal distance from it.
' i'm sorry you felt insulted by my words. I am in a hurry right now, so please accept my apology.'
It hissed loudly at her. Its long sinuous body coiled tightly and sprang forward.
What is wrong with this snake?
Just when she expected it to attack, it stopped short and spat a thick milky cloud of poison. the action caught her completely unawares.
'Did you- did you just spit poison at me? You stupid beast! Did you hit your head and go crazy?'
She pulled out her iron sword while she cursed at it.
'I'm going to chop you up and turn you into snake stew.'
She was done running. Who did this stupid beast think she was? Playing with a monkey results in it becoming impudent to its owner.
She had been bemoaning the fact that she couldn't use the journey to train. Since this snake delivered itself at her door, she'd just beat it up till it knew not to repeat the same mistake in its next life.
The coiled snake waited.
Shaa!
She gathered her momentum and rushed forward, her feet thundering on the ground. The wooden sword struck the hardened purple scales doing no damage to it. The iron sword wasn't ideal in a fight but it was all she had. Teacher was not a sword man but he had many weapons in his space ring. The swords in there were too unwieldy for a novice like her, but even a toothpick became a dangerous weapon if it was wielded by a dangerous person. She just needed to reach a vital spot.
Ding! Ding! Dinggg!
The clearing resounded with the sound of an unrelenting sword hitting metallic scales.
The snake had chosen to fight defensively until the poison began to act up. It's huge body slowly uncoiled when Bai li yue landed on the ground. Her breathing was ragged. She was seeing two copies of the snake now.
Hiss!
She bit her tongue and straightened her sword.
Swoosh!
Her body flashed forward just as the tail swung at her. It crashed into a tree.
The maw followed her. It was opened wide, fangs dripping with venom.
I have to end this soon or i won't survive.
In a moment of inattention, the tail tagged her stomach and swept her backward into a tree.
'huumf!' she grunted and rolled out of the way when the tail swept forward for another attack.
She swallowed the blood that filled her mouth. She groaned and stood back up.
Slash!
She jumped into the air again. This time, she focused on the snake's head. Her constant assault had resulted in only a few scales falling off. The iron sword was still far from being a dangerous weapon in her hands. But it was a tool of her rising desperation.
The snake violently whipped its head around to throw her off. She was flung off her high perch and came crashing down.
Covered in dust, she lunged into the air and returned to the spot at the back of its head. The thrashing became more violent, but this time she used the last of her energy to stay rooted to the spot.
She gently pried up part of the scale on the back of its head to reveal the soft flesh beneath; and plunged the sword deep into the back of its skull, twisting it with all of her strength.
Hiiisssss!
Hiiiisss! Hiiisss!
The sound shook the nearby trees and left Bai li yue's ear drums ringing. The snake was feeling pain. At last.
She held onto the sword hilt for dear life as the snake thrashed about and crushed into the surrounding trees. It had no concern for its safety. It no longer bothered with her only the thorn embedded in its head.
In a brief moment when the thrashing abated, she tore the sword out of the wound and stabbed it deep into its head again. Blood sprayed out of the first wound: like air escaping a burst balloon.
After repeated stabbings of the same spot, the snake's reactions were reduced by a considerable degree. The strength of its thrashing grew weaker until it lay prone and helpless.
She stumbled to the ground and fell to her knees. The snake stared at her defiantly.
Hiss..
.
'don't just sit there. Dismember it and swallow the poison core before the poison kills you.'
Teacher chu's voice roused her from her exhausted state.
She pulled out her sword and went to work without sparing the dying beast a single look.
This was her first time fighting and killing such a ferocious beast. She had fought a few savage beasts inside the natural array, but they were mostly docile, nothing compared to the purple horned snake. It had nearly killed her.
She went through the gory bloody innards and found the gallbladder after some searching. The smell of the organ brought a grimace to her face.
'Do i really have to do this?'
'If you wish to live, yes.'
he replied.
She followed her teacher's instructions. She punctured the sack and nearly emptied her stomach of its contents. She rifled through its contents and quickly pulled out a tiny black stone. She gave it a quick wash and swallowed it.
The purple horned snake's monster core was a small purple stone encased in thick ligament. She wrapped it in a leaf and stowed it in her bag. She rubbed off the blood and gore off her clothes and body with some sand and left the carcass for scavengers.