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Outside of Heimu Village
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Wu Tianmo didn't have much time.
He only had a week before his wedding and a month before he bet his freedom in the Chained Slaughter Festival.
Wu Tianmo walked down a side path into the Blackwood Forest, he was at the Third Stage of the Body Reforging realm.
His strength was far from enough, the village was growing at an incredible pace and there was little time to sit secluded.
Wu Tianmo was lost in his thoughts as he walked,
Was I too short-sighted? Believing I was the last of our family.... There were ten of us sent out from the city after we graduated from the family academy. Tianfeng was really alive all this time, could there be others?
*Stick Break*
Wu Tianmo's eyes fixed on a clearing a few hundred feet away, he readied his wooden sword as he saw a few Tier 1 Spirit Deer pass by that had bright red antlers and were covered in brown fur.
Their antlers sold for a good price but the problem was catching them, they were quicker than a Meridian Opening Realm cultivator!
Wu Tianmo crouched down behind a tree as he watched the Tier 1 Spirit Deer begin to graze. He had no way to catch it, his only chance was to surprise and kill it with one move.
Yet Wu Tianmo gave up this idea, he had no offensive martial skills cultivated.
Against other swordsmen he could hold his own, even against aggressive beasts he would be better off.
Yet against an agile beast he started to understand his shortcomings.
In short, the truth was simple.
He was still weak.
Wu Tianmo beat himself up over this fact,
He had to leave his clan member in the Black Tower...
Why?
Because I'm weak.
If he had the strength of the other patriarchs would the Black Tower not bow down when he made a request?....
He had to hide out within his family estate why?
Because I'm weak...
While he promised to deal with the Zhang Clan son he was not completely sure he could, he only knew that he must.
Wu Tianmo entered his mind space and began analyzing his cultivation technique once again.
Within the Crimson Lunar Blood Scripture there were a few ways to speed up one's cultivation in the Body Reforging Realm.
The most accessible was...
The blood of spirit beasts.
Or.
The blood of cultivators.
For a while Wu Tianmo had understood the true nature of his cultivation technique, it was one from the demonic path.
Yet the type of technique didn't inherently make the user a demonic being, just as one who holds the sword either has the ability to slaughter or protect.
It's all about choice.
The mortal world has those that are good and those that are evil, this is reflected in the cultivation world as well.
There are Righteous, and Demonic.
Within this world there are many alliances, sects, clans, and individuals that make up these two factions.
The factions are constantly at war and merely meeting one at the other side causes friction.
As if the cultivation world wasn't bloody enough...
Wu Tianmo also had noticed the nature of his Qi wasn't normal, even its color had turned red.
*Stick Break*
Wu Tianmo quickly returned from being lost in his thoughts and saw the spirit deer walking towards a path between two high cliffs.
He waited for them to pass before quickly beginning to climb.
After over 100 feet he had finally reached the summit which opened into a field of grass that extended for miles.
He walked along the top of the gorge and watched the spirit beasts from above, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
It was then that a loud howl rang out from ahead of the spirit deer, their antlers rose in alarm.
The largest of the spirit deer took a defensive stance ready to defend.
Dust scattered ahead of them and large black-furred wolves charged their direction.
The largest deer took an aggressive stance and made some strained yelps, the other spirit deer looked panicked and began to run away.
Wu Tianmo was shocked,
Is this a leader sacrificing himself for the others? Would it even matter? Why did he not run alongside them?
Spirit beasts generally didn't have the intelligence until they reached a higher tier, but this was something deeper.
An instinct to protect, it was quite beautiful.
Wu Tianmo couldn't help but reflect,
Was the original Wu Patriarch like this? What were their final moments like.
He originally was going to attack the Spirit Deer yet he now decided on a different course.
The blood of the wolves would do just fine.
The Spirit Deer leader was much larger than the others and even larger than the wolves. He was a peak Tier One Spirit Beast.
He lowered his head pointing his bright red 20 point antlers at the charging beasts. He kicked the ground with his back leg scattering some dust and charged.
The leader of the wolves who was covered in black fur paused for a moment letting his pack continue to charge while he observed with piercing red eyes.
He jumped, breaking the ground with his long claws that resembled small blades onto a nearby large boulder.
After their first charge, three of his pack were impaled onto the antlers of the spirit deer.
Their blood drained like a shower of red as the spirit deer shook his head tossing the dead wolves aside.
The leader of the Tier One wolves howled and the rest of his pack surrounded the spirit deer, they began to circle.
Yet he still waited for the perfect moment.
The deer let out a loud yelp and swung his large antlers towards the leader, as this happened two of the smaller wolves dove in to bite his back legs.
One of them was caught by a kick but the other bit down on the heel causing the deer to yelp in pain.
The spirit deer turned while dragging the biting wolf around into the large boulder shattering the boulder on impact and killing the wolf.
Blood painted the valley floor of the gorge and the deer yelped in anger.
The wolf leader snarled fiercely then started to circle the spirit deer along with his pack.
There were only three wolves left, and the spirit deer could no longer run.
The wolf leader and Wu Tianmo thought in unison.
This is my chance.
Wu Tianmo leapt off the edge of the gorge with his weapon in hand as the leader of the wolves dove under the large swinging antlers of the Spirit Deer.