Bloodstains

At the western foothills of the Magic Beast Mountains stood a town.

This town was called Green Mountain Town. Because it lay close to the Magic Beast Mountains, large numbers of mercenaries and merchants who made their living hunting magical beasts and gathering medicinal herbs gathered here, together forming this prosperous little town.

Amid the bustling streets, Xiao Yan surveyed the surrounding vendors with interest. Suddenly, his gaze settled on a building bearing the sign "Ten Thousand Medicine Hall." In the original story, Xiao Yan had met Little Fairy Doctor here after competing with her for Blood Lotus Essence. But since he had arrived three years early this time, he saw neither Blood Lotus Essence nor that girl.

Still, Xiao Yan was not disappointed. After all, this was within his expectations. He silently noted the location of Ten Thousand Medicine Hall, then began strolling around the area.

Over the next few days, Xiao Yan still did not encounter Little Fairy Doctor. However, he did buy a residence less than half a street away from Ten Thousand Medicine Hall. After all, Xiao Yan was the young master of a wealthy family, so he had no shortage of money.

After settling down, Xiao Yan began preparing to enter the Magic Beast Mountains. He had come here to train, after all; he could not devote all his attention to women. Women would only slow down Xiao Yan's cultivation!

Since this was his first time entering the Magic Beast Mountains, Xiao Yan believed that, as the protagonist, he was unlikely to die in a place like this. Still, caution was the better part of valor, so he decided to find a group to enter the mountains with first and familiarize himself with the environment. As for whether he might run into some clichéd plotline, Xiao Yan's answer was that if this was the protagonist's fate, then bring it on!

When he reached the town gate on the side of Green Mountain Town closest to the Magic Beast Mountains, many mercenary groups were already shouting nonstop, recruiting members to enter the mountains with them. Xiao Yan had never really understood why companions who needed to share hardship and entrust their lives to one another could be recruited on such short notice, but since these mercenary groups were convenient for him now, he did not dwell on it. Still, this was a team that would be venturing into danger together, so Xiao Yan did not pick one at random. Instead, he carefully observed them all.

Before long, Xiao Yan took a liking to a mercenary group whose leader was a Nine-Star Fighter. Its name was the Blood Battle Mercenary Group, and its Nine-Star Fighter leader was named Fei Lei. Xiao Yan made some discreet inquiries among the surrounding people and learned that Fei Lei was considered fairly upright. Whether that was true or not, there was clearly no time to confirm it. Besides, with Xiao Yan's current strength, whether they were good people or bad people, they damn well had to be good people!

Soon, Xiao Yan arrived at the Blood Battle Mercenary Group's base.

"Name, age, cultivation."

"Yao Yan, seventeen years old, Three-Star Fighter," Xiao Yan answered in order.

"Oh, a little genius, aren't you?" The registrar looked up at him in surprise. Due to the Heavenly Flame tempering his body, Xiao Yan was much taller and more mature-looking than an ordinary twelve-year-old child, so the man did not doubt his age.

"But kid, the Magic Beast Mountains aren't a place where talent matters. Why don't you come back in a few years?" the registrar said kindly. So long as it did not affect his own interests, he was willing to do a good deed now and then.

"No need. I know what I'm doing. Please help me join the group," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"Fine. I hope you don't piss your pants when you see a magical beast." The registrar completed Xiao Yan's procedures as usual. Before long, Xiao Yan had successfully joined the mercenary group.

"The mercenary payment is five hundred gold coins. This mission is to explore a new area and draw a map, so we'll be going fairly deep into the Magic Beast Mountains. You may not withdraw midway, and all actions must follow orders. Magical beasts hunted by the group belong to the mercenary group, and the captain will distribute gold according to contribution. Magical beasts hunted individually must be sold through the group, while medicinal herbs you gather belong to you personally. Any questions?"

"No problem." Xiao Yan nodded with a smile, not having listened seriously at all. With Volcanic Rock Flame as his cultivation resource, he did not care about such things in the slightest. All he needed was for this team to teach him some experience in dealing with magical beasts and help him find a suitable place to cultivate.

Deep within the forest, the large group advanced in orderly formation. From the scouts clearing the way at the front to the rear guard bringing up the back, everyone performed their own duties.

Perhaps because Xiao Yan was young, Captain Fei Lei placed him in the relatively safe middle of the group, where he moved with several other younger members.

"The most important things when traveling through the Magic Beast Mountains are avoiding the ranges of powerful magical beasts and identifying herbs that can be gathered. Take this Blood-Coagulation Grass, for example. It..." At the center of the group, a middle-aged man was teaching three young men about traveling through the Magic Beast Mountains. He was currently explaining how to distinguish medicinal herbs commonly used by mercenaries. Although Xiao Yan had inherited Yao Lao's alchemy knowledge and knew the names and appearances of most medicinal ingredients on the Dou Qi Continent, that knowledge came from books. Thus, he listened attentively alongside the other two.

The man giving the lesson was Cheng Dadao, the deputy captain of the Blood Battle Mercenary Group and an Eight-Star Fighter. Though his name sounded rough and imposing, he was actually meticulous and very willing to look after the younger members of the group. Thus, whenever new young recruits joined, he was the one responsible for them. The two youths listening with Xiao Yan were Li Peng and Xu Yang, both locals of Green Mountain Town.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Go back and memorize this. In a while, we'll reach a place with plenty of Blood-Coagulation Grass. When we get there, gather some for me." After saying that, Cheng Dadao waved his hand and turned to attend to other matters. As deputy captain, he could not truly spend all day hovering around a few young recruits.

Before long, the group reached an area covered in Blood-Coagulation Grass. Captain Fei Lei ordered everyone to rest in place, while Xiao Yan followed Deputy Captain Cheng Dadao's instructions and led Li Peng and Xu Yang to gather Blood-Coagulation Grass.

Since this was obviously a place frequently visited by mercenary groups, nearly all the Blood-Coagulation Grass around the edges had already been picked clean. Xiao Yan and the others could only venture deeper.

"Damn it! I came here to be a mercenary, not to eat grass!" Li Peng, the most hot-tempered of the three, was clearly dissatisfied with the task of gathering herbs and grumbled as he walked.

Xu Yang, the other youth, was more meticulous. He did not echo Li Peng's complaints and instead carefully gathered Blood-Coagulation Grass. Though this area had a dense concentration of the herb, it was only relatively dense. There were still more weeds than medicinal herbs, and many of the Blood-Coagulation Grass plants were either unripe or too old to retain much medicinal value, so they still had to be identified carefully.

As for Xiao Yan, naturally, he was even less likely to join some hotheaded young man in complaining.

Suddenly, Xu Yang let out a startled cry. "Yao Yan, Li Peng, come over here!"

Where Xu Yang stood was a Blood-Coagulation Grass plant growing with extraordinary vigor, more than five times larger than the others around it.

"Whoa, Xu Yang, I thought you were screaming about something. Turns out you just got ridiculously lucky!" Li Peng said enviously.

But Xu Yang and Xiao Yan both wore grave expressions.

"Yao Yan, do you remember what Deputy Captain Cheng said earlier?" Xu Yang asked solemnly.

"Of course. You mean Blood-Coagulation Grass swells when watered with fresh blood, right?" Xiao Yan said. He then reached out and parted the leaves of the herb, revealing a patch of dark red blood near its roots.

Xiao Yan stretched out his hand and carefully sensed the energy contained within the bloodstain.

"This is the blood of a second-tier magical beast!"