In the shadows

A week and a half has passed since Ling Xu had entered the eight stage of Blood Qi and he was now just a day away before he completely refined his bones and broke through to the ninth stage.

Halfway through the stage and having his blood qi reserves increased because of the previous breakthrough, he had started to feel how it completely seeped into his bones as he had a sensation that echoed through his whole bone structure.

This process was the refining of the bone marrow as he realized that the blood qi in his body was now able to reach the deepest part of the bone.

Being aware of the situation, Ling Xu was very expectant about breaking through to the ninth stage and finally having the opportunity to complete the Blood Qi Realm with the hope to go through the third blood exchange.

After the training session in the morning, it was the turn to do the daily task with his partner He Xiaosheng, who had become a little more proactive in searching beasts to earn more points.

"I can't let him catch up with me!" he thought, having formed a slight bond with Ling Xu as he had started to talk a bit more with him.

He Xiao couldn't tolerate his partner surpassing him as he didn't want him to enter the outer sect and leave him here, in the periphery of the sect.

After several days of slowly exchanging personal information, Ling Xu had gotten to know him better and realized that his quiet personality also came from the different relationships he had experienced in the last two years since he entered the sect.

Experiencing humiliation from someone who was about to enter the outer sect after just a few months of entering as a menial worker, he had started to close up as he didn't want to feel become vulnerable once again and go through the same thing.

He had also started to become anxious because at Formless Sword Sect, menial workers have a limited time they have as members of the sect before being sent to the outside to represent the sect in different positions.

This was because every year they selected new disciples that would take on different daily tasks, which were quite limited, and in turn earn a weekly wage.

Now that He Xiao had been in the sect for two years, he had a little less than a year before he would have to leave the sect.

So he was very eager to earn points and exchange for sect merit allowing him to buy more high grade blood tempering pills and increase his refining speed.

Although his cultivation speed was slow compared to others, Ling Xu had realized that it was because He Xiao had taken the slow steady route and not because he didn't have any talent.

It was quite the opposite actually, if He Xiao had a big background backing him with enough resources to advance through the Blood Qi Realm he would have already managed to surpass people like Ma Dongpil a long time ago.

And because of his own talent he had also managed to reach the peak in the third stage of Blood Qi which was the biggest reason why it took him such a long time to reach the eight stage.

Having entered the sect when he was in the third stage, he remained in it for a long time until he went through the blood exchange, making him take several months.

…

In the forest, they were already killing the fourth beast they encountered in the day as the number of them appearing had increased, making the amounts of guarding disciples returning injured from the task increase several times.

There were even a few cases of disciples who were killed as they met stronger beasts, alarming the outer disciple in the guarding center that was in charge of managing the rewards as he sent his subordinate once again to hire a few more outer disciples that would help avoid the unofficial disciples get badly injured.

Ling Xu was now observing how his partner was fighting against an eight stage sharp clawed bear that cut half the trunk of the trees just by grasping them every time it threw an attack at him.

But to his surprise, He Xiao was able to resist without much difficulty as he had managed to make several cuts that went very deep into the beast's fur, reaching the muscles and even more.

Although his sword was a high grade semi-treasure, the sharp clawed bear had a very strong defense that he could only compensate with his blood qi and his Three Purities Sword that had its progress in the latter half of the proficient level.

Because of this, he was able to continue attacking without stopping as he connected every move with the next, not leaving the bear any chance to counterattack after he took the initiative.

After a few more cuts, the beast fell to the ground and in turn He Xiao relaxed as he had a satisfied expression, feeling that his strength was still overflowing and he had barely spent his blood qi in this fight.

"That was impressive senior brother Xiao, I didn't know you could defeat a beast in the same level with such ease."

"It's okay junior Xu, I already noticed that you are more than capable of doing this."

Ling Xu was frozen in his place.

"After seeing you fight a few times I could guess that you were holding back even against the seventh stage beasts. If my guess is right, you should be able to fight on par with beasts in the ninth stage of Blood Qi."

Hearing He Xiao's honest answer, Ling Xu was shocked as he never expected to act so badly that he couldn't make his partner think that he had difficulty fighting against them.

"Brother Xiao is very sharp, I didn't expect him to figure me out so much after interacting for the last two and a half weeks." he noted down He Xiao's great attention to detail.

"It seems I can't hide my strength from senior brother." he recognized what his senior brother said and continued exploring the forest with him.

After an hour of walking, both of them were sensing their surroundings when Ling Xu sensed a strong energy fluctuation coming from He Xiao's blind spot.

"Senior brother, be careful!"

He tried to warn his brother but before he could say anything else the energy fluctuation coming out from the shadow moved and jumped straight at him.

Sensing the energy fluctuation after Ling Xu's warning, He Xiao dodged in time before the beast managed to make a fatal injury as it was aiming at his neck.

A grey wolf which didn't look very big made his heart pound when he sensed that it was in the ninth stage of Blood Qi.

"Ling Xu, let me go first."

After having gone against the eight stage sharp clawed bear, He Xiao wanted to face a challenge that would pressure him as he wanted to see how far he could go.

Seeing his attitude, Ling Xu didn't dare to interrupt having sensed already that he had most of his blood qi unused after fighting the bear.

"I will step in once it seems he is in danger."

The next instant, the wolf moved and He Xiao reacted as he deflected the sharp claws that were directed at his stomach.

He then connected the move and made a diagonal slash that brought his full body strength, not daring to hold anything back against a stronger opponent.

Feeling a lot of resistance, he barely managed to make a small cut that barely showed any blood coming out of it.

In this way, He Xiao kept dodging the incredibly fast movements from the grey wolf which put him at risk several times since getting hit once in one of his vital points could be the end of it.

But in this whole process, Ling Xu never meddled as he realized that his partner was way more experienced than him in fighting against beasts and he would ask for help if he realized that he would lose.

After all he could lose his life, he would pressure himself but never risk it if the odds were against him.

"To think he would have this side of him." Ling Xu started to have a different image from him as he never expected him to possess such a fighting spirit, daring to challenge those with a higher cultivation stage.

He didn't count as the last time he had become as pressured as this was when he faced his first adult ferocious rabbit while he was still a mere mortal and his blood hadn't awakened.

Seeing He Xiao let the wolf slightly brush him to land his sword in once again, Ling Xu was shocked as he saw the light touch of the beast's claws make a three lines scar that could have been much worse if he was just a little closer.

This continued for a few minutes as he and the wolf were exhausted and had a hard time breathing.

Looking at Ling Xu who was still in peak condition, the wolf became afraid and turned around trying to run.

"Don't you dare!"

He Xiao yelled and the next second he saw Ling Xu go past him and get in front of the beast after only a breath had passed since it started running.

It threw its claws desperately at him but he punched very hard at its belly and made it roll several meters.

"You shouldn't have run away, now you lost your chance to fight." he slashed at the beast's neck and killed it right away.

"You were very impressive, senior brother." Ling Xu said with his heart, seeing for the first time someone fight so fiercely and not caring about the injuries he got.

"Thank you for stopping it from running away, I would have been extremely frustrated if it got away after we were so close to determine the winner."

Showing a smile of relief, He Xiaosheng had relaxed a lot.

While smiling, his eyes caught something that was far behind Ling Xu making his face pale.

In the shadows from a tree, he saw the eyes from a black python that made his heart palpitate like a drum.

"What happened?" Ling Xu saw his expression and turned around, seeing the same eyes from the beast as he sensed the intense aura coming from it.

Before he could think what to do next, he saw the black python slowly getting closer as it crawled through the grass.

"Ling Xu, we have to run, this is very dangerous. Although I know that you are already comparable to a ninth stage beast, this one is about to enter the Qi Refining Realm and I don't have the strength to step in if you are in danger."

Acting as if he didn't hear He Xiao, Ling Xu remained in his place.

"Damn, he must have gotten scared!"

He struggled to move as fast as he could to him as he thought the black python would attack and Ling Xu wouldn't be able to react in time.

But to his surprise, the black python stopped a few meters before reaching him and took something in its mouth.

It was none other than the corpse from the grey wolf he had just killed.

"Fortunately it doesn't want us but the corpse." he sighed in relief but was alarmed once again as Ling Xu took a step forward.

"What are you doing? Didn't you see that the black python doesn't want us?"

Turning his head around, Ling Xu answered "But senior brother, you struggled so hard to kill it, I can't let it steal it from you."

He Xiao's face softened and he said, " Are you dumb?"

Ling Xu was surprised by his answer but he didn't care and continued moving forward.

"If you don't have a problem letting it take the corpse then let me help you get one you won't be able to give up."