Chapter 22 - The First Encounter.
Somewhere within the Demon Beast Mountain Range.
Night falls.
The blue moon hung high above the sky and the moonlight was like a diffuse ocean above, lessening the inky blackness of the night. It was accompanied by numerous stars which also hung above as if strung in the air by some invisible strings, lighting the whole forest from its tenebrous.
At this moment, deep within the demon beast mountain range, Ling Chen and Devil Fang sat in front of a campfire while drinking wine.
The fire crackled while projecting long shadows on the surrounding. Furthermore, the lights cast by the flames danced across the dark trunks of the trees, twisting and curling in obscure shapes while providing a small radius of light.
The heat from the campfire seemed to be sucked into the frigid air before ever reaching their cold hands. Luckily they were both immune to this little cold due to their strong cultivation base.
" Young master, I'm finally able to skillfully control the amplify sight of my third eye." Fang Lan said after taking a sip of wine with a pleased expression on his face.
Over the past two days, he discovered that he was able to amplify the sight of his third eye which was an amazing skill.
With the amplified sight, he was able to see any object from afar as though they were up close. Like a microscope, he was also capable of viewing a very small object or animals such as ants like any regular size object or animal by magnifying them.
Although this was an amazing skill to have, he was having a hard time differentiating when the object was close or afar.
Furthermore, whenever he amplified the vision of his third eye, he completely lost sight from his two regular eyes. They shut down whenever he used that skill. However, after a day or two of training, he was able to skillfully used his amplified third eye while still keeping the vision of his two regular eyes.
" That's very good." Answered Ling Chen nonchalantly while continued to sip his wine.
One might be wondering why a ten years old boy who hasn't even grown any pubic hair was drinking a grown man drink. Well, it's all traced back to his weird body.
While consuming a lethal poison might prove fatal or even kill someone, it only served as a nutrient for his body. Any negative substances that might prove dangerous and fatal for the human body only served as nutrients for his.
As such, a wine which was such a fine delicacy that most people use to celebrate an event or to have a good time was nothing more than tasty water in his mouth. Though he couldn't get drunk by drinking it, it somehow stimulated his body a little. And now, he became somehow addicted to it and used it as tasty water.
"Aside from amplifying your sight, what else your third eye is able to do?" Asked Ling Chen indifferently.
If his third eye only allowed him to amplify his sight, it would have been a waste. There's a handful of Battle Techniques which allowed the user to amplify his sight. Though it might not be to the same degree as Fang Lan, they still existed and there's also a handful of people that practiced them. Fang Lan's third eye should be more powerful than that.
Take his eyes for example, even though he hasn't fully unearthed all of his abilities, he'd already discovered a handful of them which are very useful.
His left eye which had the blue magic rune or circle mostly granted him some passive skills. With his left eye ability, he was able to see through concrete like an x-ray vision. Aside from that, he had the ability to copy and analyze any battle techniques just by seeing it in a book or from an opponent during a fight, except for bodybuilding battle techniques. He was capable of seeing the weakness of any battle technique as well.
With his left eye, he was able to see through illusion and cast illusion as well. His left eye granted him a strong perceptive ability such as motion prediction, wind direction, and human movements. Not to mention amplify his sight just like Fang Lan.
As for his right eye or demonic eye like he called it, he could paralyze a weaker opponent with a single gaze. It also gave him an ability known as the Death Curse where he could drain an opponent's life-force until he died without ever touching that person. Aside from that, Ling Chen didn't know much about his right eye as he refrained from digging deeper after that event six years ago where he accidentally killed all of his twenty-five maids and servants with the Death Curse.
"For now that's all, but I have feeling that this ability is only the beginning. Once I open my upper-dantian and break through the Martial Sovereign, that's when I'll truly awaken the true ability of the third eye." Answered Fang Lan with a look of confidence on his face.
"You may be right, however, you are still far away from breaking through the Martial Sovereign realm." Ling Chen said.
Although Fang Lan's body was transformed by the black fruit of creation, he wasn't like him who didn't have any bottlenecks and could absorb people's energy or life force in order to get stronger. It did boost his potential and talent though. Right now, Fang Lan's speed of absorbing True Qi and comprehend Battle techniques was many time faster than any super-genius of the Heaven Desolate Region.
"Two to three years isn't that long. I can wait." Fang Lan said with a smile.
Recalling how he almost became a cripple and almost been killed by Lin Mu during the Inner Sect Battle Ascension, He couldn't help but feel a chill ran down his spine.
If it was not for Ling Chen, now he would have long been dead. One could say that he became wiser and open-minded after that event. At the same time, he became more thirsty for power and more brutal to his enemies.
" I see."
" How far are we from the Sky Lion Kingdom?"
After listening to how fun and interesting the Mortal World was earlier from Fang Lan, Ling Chen was very eager to get there.
Ever since he was born, he has never left the Heavenly Demon Sect. He didn't know how it felt like to be among a group of people that didn't feel fear towards him or did everything to please him because of his status.
It was the first time he was going to a place where nobody knew of his identity or his power. A place where he would be treated like any other human being or a little child. A place where people might even look down upon him because he looked poor or weak.
In fact, he might even have the chance to revive his childhood in the Mortal World. As such, he couldn't wait to explore this brand new world.
"We are only a day away from the first town of the Sky Lion Kingdom. Before the sun goes down tomorrow, we will arrive at the Sky Lion Kingdom."
"The Black Lightning Eagle is very fast and it could cover a week's journey in a single day." Answered Fang Lan with a respectful look on his face.
Just like them, the black lightning eagle was tired and hungry. As such, as soon it landed on the ground, it left them to look for food and won't come back until morning.
Just as the two of then were talking and drinking, suddenly, they heard the sound of dozens of footsteps from afar accompanied by the cracking sound of the broken branches.
"Young master look, there is a fire over there!" Then, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Huh, let's go and see!"
At the same time, Ling Chen and Fang Lan could hear the sound of a group of people approaching them.
After a while, more than a dozen silhouettes appeared in front of them. historical
There was a young man around the age of fifteen while the rest were obviously guards. There were about fifteen of them. Ling Chen could see that the youngster's cultivation base was very weak, an early Martial Master. Furthermore, his cultivation base wasn't stable at all.
This kind of cultivation base was nothing in the Heavenly Demon Sect. Even the weakest of the outer sect disciple could kill that youngster with a single slap.
After the other party came, they're slightly taken aback when they saw Ling Chen and Fang Lan next to the campfire, leisurely drinking their wine as though they're in their living room instead of in the middle of the demon beast mountain range, a place filled with all kind of ferocious demon beasts and bandits.
"Good fragrant wine, I didn't know there was such a wine in our Sky Lion Kingdom!" The youth exclaimed as he was looking at Ling Chen with a weird expression on his face.
From what he could tell, Ling Chen was just a child not even over twelve years old, yet he was already drinking such a strong wine.
The guards behind him also nodded in agreement as they were staring at Ling Chen as well with the huge bottle of wine in his tiny hand.
They were also drooling and swallowing their saliva.
Can't blame them, this was the Heavenly Demon Venerable's wine. He only used that kind of wine when he's receiving an esteemed guest. However before he left for his mission, Ling Chen stole more than half his father's stash of wine. This type of wine was his favorite juice, he always gets a little tick when he drank them.
After a while, the youngster said to Fang Lan: "Friend, it's already late at night. Can we borrow your fire and take a little break here."
Obviously, he mistakenly thought that among the two people, Fang Lan was the leader.
Fang Lan looked towards Ling Chen.
Ling Chen nodded.
The youngster including the guards behind him startled. This was really unexpected, but he quickly reacted and looked at Ling Chen before saying: " Many thanks, little brother!"
So, the youngster sat next to the campfire, and the fifteen guards stood all around them, surveying the surroundings.
"You two are also going to Red Sand Valley for the black Fox cub as well?" After sitting down, the youngster started asking.
"Right." Answered Ling Chen without even knowing anything about that so-called black fox cub. However, he was really interested. Even though he was here for a mission, that wouldn't stop him from adventuring a little.
"Little brother, where did you buy this wine?" The youngster couldn't help but ask.
Ling Chen hearing this just laughed before saying: " I stole it from my father."
Upon hearing this, the youngster couldn't help but look at Ling Chen with a strange smile on his face. It seemed like this little child was a fellow debauchee.
After a while, Ling Chen offered the youngster a cup of wine. While they were drinking the two of them exchanged names and talked as though they were two good friends.
However, while they happily chatting, a harsh and evil voice rang out from the distance.
" Black Tiger, it seems like we hit the jackpot tonight. There seems to be a little prey ahead."
At the same time, more than fifty muscular men in black surrounded them. Their bodies were emanating a strong evil aura. From one glance, one could tell that these men were used to killing and have killed their share of people.