"No matter how many times I see it, I just can't get used to it," Su Feng commented as he gazed at the landscape from the edge of the small spirit boat.
Wu Huang nodded in agreement. Although he had traveled on the vessel countless times and the novelty had long since faded, he understood the young man's fascination.
"Be careful not to fall," Wu Huang warned with a wry tone. "At this height, even I would have to grit my teeth and pray to the Heavenly Dao to stand a chance of survival."
Upon hearing that, Su Feng turned pale and immediately took a step back, moving away from the edge of the deck with comical speed. Wu Huang and his sisters could no longer restrain themselves and burst into laughter at the youth's reaction.
For the journey, they had used a small spirit boat with a capacity for barely ten people, which allowed them to reach the mountain range quickly. The distance between the sect and their destination was several thousand kilometers; for a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage, the journey would be tedious, and for one in the Qi Refining stage, the trip could last months.
Precisely for that reason, Wu Huang—in his capacity as senior brother and leader of the group—had been entrusted with the vessel. Although it was minor in scale compared to the great spirit ships that transport hundreds of disciples, it remained a costly treasure and difficult to maneuver for any conventional cultivator.
"Senior Brother, this seems like a good spot," Su Feng suggested, pointing toward a clearing in the terrain.
Wu Huang scrutinized the area. To the naked eye, it didn't seem like anything special, but trusting the instincts of that young man—who possessed the aura of a "Son of Destiny"—he nodded and directed the descent. He was the first to leap to the ground, followed closely by his sisters and his junior brother.
"Zhong Ling, deploy a formation," Wu Huang ordered.
The junior sister gave a slight bow and set to work. In less than an hour, a basic defensive formation was established, enveloping the camp in a halo of security. Wu Huang observed the work and nodded with approval.
"Good. You may go hunt beasts, but stay alert. If you encounter a second-order beast or higher, return immediately and fire a distress signal," he instructed as he took a seat on the ground to meditate. "You have one month; do not venture too deep and do not seek risks recklessly."
"The disciples understand!" they responded in unison.
After nodding, they quickly disappeared into the thick of the forest. Although a month seemed like a considerable amount of time, for cultivators it was no more than a sigh, barely enough margin to fulfill their objectives.
"For now, I will attempt to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment," he murmured to himself as he closed his eyes.
In this world, cultivation stages were divided into nine minor realms. The first three levels were known as the Initial stage, the next three as the Intermediate stage, and the last three as the Late stage. The difficulty of ascending through each realm increased exponentially. While the power gap between cultivators in the early levels was minimal, the difference between the eighth and ninth realms was abysmal. In direct combat, unless the eighth-level cultivator possessed a superior technique or more powerful treasures, the victory of the ninth level was practically assured.
Currently, Wu Huang was at the sixth stage. He knew that once he reached the seventh level, his pace of progress would drop drastically. Without the help of some celestial treasure or spiritual medicine, it would take him at least half a year to cross that threshold.
"I will have to request more resources from the family; the amount provided by the sect is insufficient," he thought with a grimace of dissatisfaction.
Although the sect's allocation was by no means small, his lack of natural talent was a heavy burden. He easily required twice the resources of an average genius to obtain the same result in his cultivation.
"Perhaps staying with the Wu Clan would have been a better option," he whispered to himself.
However, he quickly brushed aside those defeatist thoughts. He shook his head to clear his mind and concentrated on circulating his energy. He wanted to advance as much as possible before the inevitable encounter with his fiancée.
In another sector of the forest, Su Feng swung his sword with elegance, and the corpse of a magical beast collapsed heavily against the ground.
"Brother Su, it seems the creatures of this place pose no problem for you at all," Lin Xian'er commented as she approached.
Su Feng nodded in silence. It had only taken him three moves to defeat a magical beast whose power was equivalent to the final stage of Qi Refining. Although he was at the same level of cultivation, natural physical disparity dictated that, at equal realms, the raw strength of a monster was far superior to that of a human. However, magical beasts lacked celestial treasures, martial techniques, or refined tools.
Thus, a cultivator could balance the scales as long as they possessed such resources; something that was not particularly common in the world of cultivation, let alone among rogue or loose cultivators who barely survived with the basics.
"This is not enough; we have to go deeper," he said, fixing his gaze on the depths of the forest.
Lin Xian'er looked at him with surprise and a hint of worry.
"Brother Wu warned us to be careful," she insisted. "If we go too far with our current cultivation level, the situation could become uncontrollable."
"Don't worry. If something goes wrong, I will take it upon myself to apologize," he replied, walking into the thicket without showing the slightest concern.
Su Feng wasn't just talking for the sake of it; he had already defeated disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage and had even managed to escape a Golden Core expert. Faced with such feats, common magical beasts did not intimidate him in the least.
Lin Xian'er hesitated for a moment, overcome by doubt, but finally summoned her courage and ran after him. Thus, both ventured into the depths of the mountain range, ignoring the warnings of their leader.