AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword

Chapter 85: Center of the Forest (2)

The fact that we can fly at close to hypersonic speeds for two hours tells me just how vast this Forbidden Ancient Hunting Grounds is. It would take months to go from the outer edge of the middle ring to the inner ring on foot. Although, this measurement is heavily influenced by the fact that half of the time we spent flying was not in a straight line but with many detours.

Lady Yue visits several places in the forest and this is mostly to collect medicinal plants of very high quality or to collect precious ores from the ground though I do not see these ores before she stashes them away, so I do not know what they are.

This makes sense. The last time Lady Yue left the grotto to collect her familiars, she did not return for a long time it is possible that she has been performing these small tasks in preparation for her departure.

These places have been likely scouted before she chose the grotto as her base of operations who knows how many years ago and these medicinal fields and ore collection points have been prepared by her to be collected when she was ready to leave.

Lady Yue is a smart and efficient woman and her actions betray her wisdom. Even though she looks like she is in her early thirties, or late twenties, her experience is that of someone who has been doing this for a very long time.

The few times that we do get close to the ground, I do not sense any cultivators nearby or find any signs of their presence. Even though this forest is now open to the sect for the disciples to explore as they please, we dont cross paths with any of them.

This is not that surprising considering how vast this forest is. The other important factor is population density. Most creatures cultivators included will likely spend most of their time near the boundary between the outer and middle ring of the forest, or the middle and inner ring. The reason is that stronger creatures can prey on the weaker ones at the boundary, while the weaker creatures have to compete at the boundary to become the apex predators themselves.

Beyond this boundary as was demonstrated to Lan Xiaohui in the amount of medicinal herbs she found is mostly unexplored territory, with few predators. But even if there were fewer predators, the kind of creature that does not need to compete or hunt at the boundary is surely far more dangerous another incentive not to go beyond the boundary.

The ecosystem of this forest is a marvelous thing and perhaps one day when my spiritual perception exceeds one thousand kilometers, I will return here and study the deeper nature of this world. This is not a hobby or a mere curiosity, but it will surely improve my Dao.

Life itself follows the Dao through instinct and the evolution, growth, and decline of creatures could be said to be the best reflection of the Heavenly Law that governs life and the inherent desire to overcome this system and become immortal.

Lady Yue descends at one point, and with a final warning that she will only wait for a week, leaves Lan Xiaohui in the forest and departs once more on her flying sword.

Spring has transformed the forest into a vibrantly verdant environment, with many flowers and blooms in full display. The air is so fresh that it triggers my subroutines to inform me of this rather peculiar trait.

This close to the center of the forest, the Qi is rich and saturates everything in color and life. The grade of medicinal plants is not more than Earth, but that is likely because the high density of creatures leads to a quick cycle of life and death.

In this environment, it would not be strange if these Earth grade materials had only existed for a year before being consumed.

As Lan Xiaohui advances further into the forest, this quickly begins to change. The leaves on the trees are turning progressively browner and the petals of flowers are beginning to fall off as if the season here is Autumn or Winter.

Deeper toward the center, I begin to feel the suppression of the Formation that Lady Yue had described as the culprit behind her inability to go further.

I dont even breathe, yet I feel a terrible difficulty in doing exactly that. I lack the physiology to properly describe this phenomenon, but even I, in some ways, respire the Qi of Heaven and Earth to maintain my internal systems and in this environment, it is becoming increasingly more difficult.

My own profound Physique and body cultivation feels much heavier the closer we get to the center of the Formation and I notice that for Lan Xiaohui it is slightly more severe than it is for me.

I assume this is because she is slightly ahead of me in her cultivation if this Formation suppresses cultivators in the Nascent Soul Ascension realm, then it must perform this function in a gradual manner, becoming more severe the higher ones cultivation becomes.

I feel vast networks of Qi flowing beneath our feet, and I also feel the same reflecting or being reflected by channels of Qi floating in the sky, though I can only sense the directionality and not the actual presence of these Qi veins.

I cannot even detect the arrays that operate this Formation nor can I find any hints of them. When Lan Xiaohui drew the [Soul Harvest Formation] she had to scribe the symbols into the ground, but we find no such markings here.

After an hour of walking, we are approaching the innermost region of the forest, and here, the corpses of two cultivators draw Lan Xiaohuis attention, causing her to detour in their direction.

Sensing the cultivation depth of dead things is difficult, but I can tell that these two a male and a female do not possess a Gold Core; at least, not anymore.

Their stomachs are torn open to access their Dantians, and all their meridians are destroyed. Their bodies are also looted there are no artifacts left on them. Whatever or whoever killed them mustve been intelligent enough to understand the value of artifacts that cultivators carry.

What couldve done this? Lan Xiaohui asks, herself surprised at the brutality that killed these cultivators.

Their bodies are torn up, with many slash marks still existing as evidence of their demise, but their bodies have decomposed to such a point that accurate analysis is now impossible.

These two have been dead for several months.

It was a demonic beast, I tell Lan Xiaohui.

Then others looted the bodies?

No, I tell her. From this point forward, it is safer to forget everything you know about demonic beasts.

Lan Xiaohui considers my words. Her first reaction is to categorically deny this suggestion, but another glance at the bodies the savage nature of their deaths causes her to reconsider her initial impulse.

She inhales deeply and then climbs to her feet. She neither acknowledges nor denies my suggestion. Instead, she looks over her shoulder and quietly says: You have been following us for a while now.

Slowly, Lan Xiaohui turns around and snatches me out of the air, assuming a proper combat stance. I will give you this one opportunity because I respect the depth of your cultivation. We are not that different. Leave now and live.

Her sword Qi manifests in the air around her, like a black and red corona of glimmering stars.

This reminds me of Lan Xiaohuis first encounter in this forest. It is as if we have come full circle in our journey of life and death. Even right down to the righteous offering of peace which, unsurprisingly, is declined.

Into my perception radius comes a fox with a pure white body and bright red markings across its body. The red lines terminate on the bushy tip of each one of its three tails that stand flared out as the three-tailed fox roars towards Lan Xiaohui.

Its cultivation is in the Peak of Foundation exactly like Wukong but to assume that this fox is as powerful as Wukong would be an understatement.

Immediately, red lightning sparks between each tail, channeling into a point above the foxs head. Its claws extend, gouging into the ground, and sword energy rises from them.

Cultivators have one advantage over demonic beasts that can easily cultivate the body cultivators have martial arts.

That is no longer true.