Dark Blood Path

Dozens of crude oil lamps were kindled within the underground cave, providing a soft, orange-hued light that illuminated the interior. Jiang Xiaowen reclined on a rock, holding a canned peach in her left hand as she forked a piece of peach flesh from the can with her right. Those lovely amethyst-like eyes of hers grew dazed as they gazed straight in the direction of the cave’s entrance; she had long lost her appetite for the peach.

“Come back to your senses!” Yunyun waved her hand in front of her friend’s eyes and made a funny face, saying, “You’ve been sitting here in a daze since early in the morning. Aren’t you bored?”

Jiang Xiaowen immediately put down the can of peaches in her hand, held Yunyun’s hand, and said worriedly: “I don’t understand… Yunyun, today is already the tenth day since his departure; why hasn’t he come back yet? He’s a man of his word, so I can’t help but worry that something may have happened to him along the way.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not even noon yet.” Yunyun couldn’t help but roll her eyes and continued, “Don’t overthink it; Xiao Yu is such a strong man. What troubles in the world could hinder him? Just go check on that pair of fat and bald guys; they’re much less concerned about it than you are.”

Looking in a certain direction, Jiang Xiaowen curled her lips. A big fat man and a burly bald-headed giant were sitting on the floor, having a drink and chatting happily. Wang Chao was holding a burnt yellow rabbit leg, and his mouth was full of greasy food. Jin Shi also tore a piece of barbecued meat and ate it.

Jiang Xiaowen snorted angrily, “Hmph, two heartless guys!”

On the other side, Han Kexin was sitting in front of an oil lamp, holding a pen in her hand, seemingly about to note something on the paper. Although she looked calm on the surface, the tip of the pen in her hand wasn’t moving at all, and the ink dripped slowly and soaked the paper. She smiled wryly, shook her head, finished writing quickly, then sighed in her heart before raising her head. Under the light of the oil lamp, her eyes were a little drowsy. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt an emptiness in her heart ever since Xiao Yu left as if she had lost her backbone.

Han Kexin was a very strong lady from an upper-class family. She took good care of herself and never asked her family for a penny. As a result, she never imagined that one day she too would have such a strong dependence on someone, even… attachment.

“Xiao Yu is back!”

An excited voice rang out from the direction of the cave’s entrance.

Han Kexin’s heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t pretend to be calm anymore. She even knocked over the oil lamp when she stood up, causing it to tumble down as she stooped down to pick it back up and finally walked toward the entrance.

Jiang Xiaowen cheered and rushed forward like a gust of wind. She looked beautiful, with that sweet and lovely smile on her face, “Welcome back, welcome back. Did everything go well? Were you hurt?”

Xiao Yu didn’t answer her questions directly; instead, he glanced at Jiang Xiaowen and smiled in satisfaction, “you have grown a lot stronger in the few days that I haven’t seen you; you really didn’t let me down.”

Hearing Xiao Yu’s praise, Jiang Xiaowen beamed with joy and puffed out her chest proudly.

“What’s there to be proud of? ‘You gave her some paint, and she already wants to open a dyehouse’.” Wang Chao walked out of the crowd and provocatively remarked, “Boss, just ignore her. The three of us have stepped into the peak elementary level before this little girl. She is the slowest person at the table, and even Stone, who specializes in defense, was faster.”

Jiang Xiaowen blushed and retorted angrily: “What are you talking about? Would you have such a fast speed if you hadn’t relied on the mace that Xiao Yu gave you? That baldy was also lucky to get a white-grade Warhammer; otherwise, how would I have lost to him?!”

Wang Chao shrugged his shoulders, ignoring her.

Jiang Xiaowen puffed up her cheeks and glared at him angrily.

“You two, just spare me from this.” Xiao Yu immediately removed the prepared “Splitting Air Spear” from his ring, “This is a weapon I obtained during this trip that’s been specifically reserved for you to use. It’s not too shabby.”

Jiang Xiaowen held the long spear in her hands and felt its weight; she sunk her spiritual power into the weapon, and her face suddenly showed ecstasy, “Oh, it’s a white-grade weapon. This is so good!” She squinted her eyes and glared straight at Wang Chao, “Hmph, I will never lose to a certain fat ball again.”

“Tch.” Wang Chao deliberately made a face at her before patting Xiao Yu’s shoulder and saying, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Stone and I have already prepared a big meal for you as a welcome party; let’s eat to our fill!”

Just as Xiao Yu walked a few steps forward, a soft, youthful figure appeared in his line of sight—it was Han Kexin.

Upon seeing Xiao Yu, a glimmer of joy appeared on her face, but she immediately asked seriously, “The map…Was it drawn yet?”

Xiao Yu handed her several large sheets of drawing paper he had removed from the space ring. “the forest is too large for it to be drawn in full detail, but with these pieces in hand, we at least have a clear path. Of course, there are various dangers and hurdles along the way, but I made sure to cross the areas that need to be avoided so that we can have a rough idea about the coming journey.”

Han Kexin sifted through the map and exclaimed with a face full of surprise, “My God, you actually traveled such a long distance in merely ten days; the size of the forest is enormous!”

Xiao Yu asked, “By the way, how was the situation in the cave while I was gone?”

Han Kexin replied: “It’s all right. Everything is proceeding as usual. The only thing worth mentioning is that the four of us have attained the peak elementary level. The majority of the remaining students have stepped into the elementary level, while the few people remaining are likely to advance in five days as well.”

Du Tao went on to say: “At the moment, the number of casualties on our side is relatively low, while outsiders occasionally join in, and our overall number is on the rise. We eliminated two low-level monster gathering sites in the past ten days. Basically, the road ahead of the danger zone is all cleared.”

Xiao Yu was very satisfied, “Very well, from now on, we can finally start thinking about leaving the forest. You begin planning and preparing for the long journey out of the forest. We have sufficient supplies, so we don’t need to cut down on food consumption. Everyone should eat well for the next few days, and then we’ll start moving after we’ve garnered all of our energy.”

This sentence made the other people who heard the news secretly happy. Nobody knew who made the first cheer, as everybody followed suit and cheered loudly. It was a remarkable moment, and even the most stoic of them couldn’t help but raise their voice in celebration. Surrounded by the crowd, Xiao Yu took a seat, and various types of food were served one after the other as he shared a drink with everyone there, celebrating the news of the upcoming journey.

On the following day, Du Tao gathered the people who had not advanced to the elementary level and instructed them to follow Yun Yun, Wang Chao, and Jin Shi’s lead as they headed toward the forest to hunt monsters. The rest of the people, including Du Tao himself, all came to Xiao Yu to receive some combat training. The majority of them reached the elementary level only with the help of others and have not undergone any harrowing life-and-death battles. Whether it was combat experience or fighting awareness, they were lacking in both fields.

Xiao Yu acted as an instructor for the next couple of days. He summed up his experience and some combat skills and passed them on to others. As for how much they could learn, it depended entirely on everyone’s understanding. Of course, this was within his scope of consideration.

Everyone went through theoretical study, mental training, and actual combat training for a whole week. Xiao Yu was indeed a warrior with rich experience in life-and-death battles. What he imparted was his own personal experience and insight on how to survive a battle, which greatly benefited everyone else. However, there were certain things that words failed to convey as they could only be grasped through experience. No matter how profound their understanding and comprehension were, people who have not been challenged by blood and fire trials still cannot be considered true warriors.

Xiao Yu taught people how to fight and gave them experience in the field. He also split people into different groups and gave them targeted training, just like marching and fighting in ancient times, organizing them all on different squads to make future operations and commands easier to issue.

…………

After a week of training, the one hundred and sixty-one people in the underground cave have all become elementary warriors!

At this moment, four people were at the peak stage of the elementary level; six people were at the late stage of the elementary level; forty-nine people were at the middle stage, and the rest were all at the low stage of the elementary level.

Xiao Yu divided the whole group into three combat teams, each of which had undergone different types of training.

The first team was called the “Tiger Squad”; it was entirely composed of people who possessed “strength enhancement” talents. The team was composed of a total of fifty-four members. Xiao Yu instructed the squad to become the main fighting unit of the group, as they should charge forward like tigers and tear apart all enemies standing in their path.

The leader of the first team was Wang Chao, whose forth was attacking and assailing. While Zhao Dahai, the first person to develop “strength enhancement” talent upon advancing to the elementary level, served as the squad’s vice team leader. He stood currently at the late stage of the elementary level, and his fighting power was one of the greatest among all strength-type warriors. His prestige was likewise pretty high.

The second team was called the “Iron Bear Squad”, all composed of “Physical Body Enhancement” talents, with a total of forty-six members. Xiao Yu instructed this squad to be their group’s core unit, to be calm and sturdy like hard iron but, when required, to transform into a fierce bear and brutally shatter their enemies into mincemeat.

The leader of the second team was Jinshi, whose defensive power was unparalleled. The vice-team leader was the group’s number one chef, who was quite popular with everyone; coincidentally, he was a physical body type warrior standing in the late stage of the elementary level. After being nominated as the squad’s vice team leader, no one had any objections.

The third team was called the “Goshawk Squad”, which was entirely composed of people possessing “Agility Enhancement” talents, with a total of forty members. Xiao Yu instructed this squad to be the team’s scouting unit, doing all kinds of tasks, from clearing the path to exploring the way to searching for traps to launching surprise attacks. All of them had to be as sharp and swift as eagles, charging in and crushing any opponent in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Yu hesitated for a long time in choosing the leader of the third team and finally handed it over to Jiang Xiaowen but simultaneously appointed Yun Yun and Huang Jianmin as vice team leaders. Jiang Xiaowen indeed had good innate skill and strength, but she lacked in both temperament and drive. Yunyun was a bit clever and good at scheming, while Huang Jianmin was an old crimes policeman and was extremely careful; the two could make up for her shortcomings, especially since both of them were in the late stages of elementary level and had a fairly strong power.

In addition to the three combat teams, there was another command unit consisting of only nine individuals. These nine people all had “Brainpower enhancement” talents, and the commander-in-chief was naturally Du Tao.

Xiao Yu was the group’s leader, and Han Kexin was the deputy leader!

From this moment onward, this small team had officially taken shape!