Demon Wolf

Seven days flashed by; an exciting week during which Wolf realized just how insignificant his power and knowledge were in this new world. Elder Dread, who he once deluded himself he could slay in a suicidal attack, was terrifying.

Even if he fought with all his might, the best he could hope was keeping himself alive, assuming Eleanor disdained injuring herself to claim his life. Otherwise, he would die delivering a mediocre wound; one from which Eleanor could recover with a single healing pill.

For most cultivators, who had not yet to enter the Blood Saturating realm, such an achievement against Tendon Strengthening opponents was mind-boggling; and Wolf certainly boggled Eleanor’s mind. However, his power remained insignificant in his own eyes.

From their “friendly” chats, he had discovered that Elder Dread was just upper management in the Supreme Earth Order’s irrelevant provincial outpost. She was a nobody. Her cultivation had merely reached the peak of Tendon Strengthening, insufficient to advance her studies in their mother Earth Monastery, let alone enter the Supreme Earth Order’s headquarters.

The insignificant cog, which was Elder Dread, delivered a speech to ten thousand even more unimportant existences which were the Earth Pavilion’s inner disciples gathered at the mountain foot’s assembly square.

“I will escort you to Corpsewood’s entrance. The secluded world is vast, and around two hundred thousand disciples from Boreo’s various forces will enter alongside you. Our Earth Pavilion has a standing arrangement with Boreo’s four other major sects, which states that we calculate our vested interests based on the number of our disciples who leave Corpsewood alive. Meaning, survival is your primary mission; don’t take foolish chances.”

Eleanor spoke with the cold dignity of her position, informing the children and youths gathered before her that doom awaited them, and that they were willingly rushing to meet it.

“Corpsewood is Boreo’s most ancient, most dangerous Qi Gathering grade domain, with a survival rate of less than four in ten. However, it is also the land of great bounty. Your cultivation will soar, reaching the nascent stage of Blood Saturating just through breathing the ambient World Energy. Seclude yourself and stabilize your realm before exploring the world. Corpsewood’s environment has given birth to prime resources, better than those which naturally form in Boreo’s restricted areas.”

Wolf glanced at the excited glint in his peers’ eyes, some of which had suppressed their cultivation and delayed their advancement by three or more years just to seize this chance. Eleanor also took in the audience, her expressionless face not changing in the least.

“Competition for treasures will give birth to conflict and ultimately the death of many. Don’t act without confidence; your mission is to stay alive, not to become rich…”

She’s wasting her breath, and she knows it. Wolf noticed the apathetic lack of light in Eleanor’s eyes. Those lacking in ambition had already become outer disciples; everyone here is a gambler. The only question is how many of them possess the ability to back their gambling.

Wolf’s gaze lingered on the one hundred-odd dwarfs and over three hundred elves who stuck together. I guess they should survive, unless they are the only non-humans around, in which case all humans will target them. I still haven’t discovered the extent of xenophobia in this world.

Eleanor ended her speech with a ‘good luck’, then led the Earth Pavilion’s ten thousand disciples towards Corpsewood.

What she referred to as a light warmup was two weeks of sprinting sixteen hours a day. The few remaining hours Earth Pavilion’s disciples spent resting and sometimes even eating to restore their dwindling energy.

The surrounding farmland was monotonous to the extreme. The field sizes were uniform, crop rotations followed without exception, and only intermittent, regular-shaped orchards filled with identical trees attempted to break the tedious scenery.

If not for an occasional grove, I would’ve thought we were running in circles. Such random thoughts passed through Wolf’s head more than once while Jakob, who ran next to him, complained about the lack of rest.

Anima is deficient in this world, so people need to sleep because their minds strain quickly, not because their bodies get tired.

Aside from eating and drinking his fill, Wolf found a good use for the time spent running. He trained the basics of several movement arts Eleanor had imparted him with. However, that pastime only helped pass the first two days. By day three, he had polished all nine techniques as much as his current realm allowed.

***

Two weeks later, the group arrived before a menacing, savage forest. Most woodland Wolf had witnessed during his life was lush and green. However, the fog-filled domain before him was predominantly gray and brown, with rare patches of green.

The bare, gnarled branches twisted around each other. In the still, dead air they appeared like angry, corpse-like claws breaking each other, competing to see who gets to scratch the heavens first while cursing the manlings’ rape of the rest of their land.

Just like the woodland’s appearance clashed with Boreo’s usual, orderly landscape, the way in which the paved, cultivator-only highway ended was no less abrupt. The wide road’s end was a curb two hundred meters away from the primal wall of entwined thorns and dancing shadows.

“We’ve got some three hours left.” Eleanor’s impassive voice entered Wolf’s ear. “Once the fog grows denser, you will enter the forest. You must traverse the fog for three kilometers before you walk out of it. Don’t bother holding hands or trying to stay together, the space twists, and you will appear in a random location at the fringes of the Corpsewood secluded world. The location you appear at will be random. You may find yourself alone, surrounded by allies, enemies, or Monster Beasts. Remember, be prepared to fight the moment you enter, and immediately seek a well-concealed shelter.”

The crowd remained silent, scared of the terrifying elder. However, all it took were two words to turn the oppressive silence into a low chatter.

“At ease,” Eleanor said, and the crowd started hatching last minute plans and completing their arrangements and alliances.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Hillman…”

“Senior Apprentice Brother Hillman…”

The one receiving the most offers was naturally Wolf. He declined the offered communication devices and refused to share contact information. The jade slip he had bought in Earth Pavilion held Jakob’s, Stella’s and Rondel’s IDs, but this far from the Earth Pavilion’s mountain only Jakob’s remained green and accessible, while the names of Wolf’s remaining two servants appeared light gray.

While Wolf politely rejected yet another wave of offers and professions, seventy kilometers northward, a group of ten thousand young women arrived at the forest’s edge.

“The fog will descend in two and a half hours,” a scarred woman with a regal bearing declared as she turned to face the disciples behind her. “Remember your mission. Once Corpsewood closes, Brilliant Gate will claim the majority share of Boreo’s resources, and we will reward all disciples who bring back the proof of their kills with contribution points.”

The sect master paused, inspecting the gathered young ladies. “Remember, the Soaring Dragon Peak and the Myriad Flowers’ Spring are our allies against Earth Pavilion and Quickdraw Gate. I don’t want to hear a word about you girls fighting our allies, do you understand?”

Everyone nodded, understanding the implied meaning behind those words. The sect master did not say, ‘Do not fight them.’ Rather, her words meant, ‘Once you kill them, leave no witnesses.’

Daniella Daseldoff scanned the crowd, her gaze lingering on her daughter.

It’s unfortunate Lena failed to find that Lindworm and temper herself against a proper opponent to prepare for Corpsewood. Still, she gained some experience fighting the wasteland savages. Even though the Tyrant’s Law forbids attacking them, it allows self defense, and what Lena did can pass for self defense.

While the Tyrant’s Law terrified her, Daniella Daseldoff cared little about local laws. She once belonged to the so-called unorthodox faction. She was a self-made woman who had killed and robbed, exploiting the limits of what the Tyrant’s Law allowed until she grew rich enough to establish herself.

Twenty-five years ago, she had slain the kingdom’s guardian in single combat. Then she took her place and established her own sect. The explosive rise of Daniella Daseldoff’s popularity allowed her Brilliant Gate to enter the top five sects after she absorbed the Flourishing Peak, the former guardian’s sect.

Once on top, Brilliant Gate became an exemplary orthodox sect. For two decades, they upheld the cultivators’ rights and protected their virtues, demonstrating how Daniella acted the way she did because of her circumstances.

Publicly, all orthodox sects upheld honor and justice. The alliance between the three sects to weaken the two others’ hold on their shared resources would never see the light of day. Other than the disciples doing the killing and some elders, nobody would know why the Earth Pavilion and the Quickdraw Gate had lost so many disciples.

At least that was the plan the Soaring Dragon Peak’s sect master forged when she received the order to weaken Boreo’s two other international forces.