Free Web NovelChapter 20: Let’s Begin
The canvas of the sky was a brutal, unblinking sheet of gold, pouring down a suffocating heat that made the horizon warp and shimmer.
Inside the stone boundaries of the sect, the air felt like a stagnant swamp. But near the southern gate, the atmosphere was thick with dust, the pungent musk of dray beasts, and the sharp, copper tang of processed blood stones.
Evan crouched in the shadow of a stone buttress, his white robes tucked tightly around his limbs. Beneath the heavy fabric, his skin was slick with sweat, but he kept his breathing shallow.
Ahead of him, a massive supply caravan was preparing to depart.
These weren’t ordinary carriages. They were towering, iron reinforced wagons pulled by Gloom-Oxens, blind beasts with hide as thick as armor plating.
The caravan belonged to the Sect’s external trade registry, responsible for transporting refined blood stones and raw beast marrow to the clans scattered across the mountain range.
The clans were like small parts of a sect that existed outside of it, the clans contained the same species as the sect they are part of and every clan had a Cultivator as their leader, but mostly the populations consisted of Mortals.
For example, The Vampire Sect had three clans:
Fu Clan, that was famous for their honey, their leader was Fu Yun, a Fledgling Vampire.
Wu Clan, that was famous for their farming and for Elder Xuan because this clan was his birthplace, the leader of the clan was Wu Xing, an Awakened Vampire.
Shu Clan, that was famous for their wine, their leader was Shu Hui, an Awakened Vampire.
’Check the bindings on the third wagon!’ a guard barked, his voice echoing off the cobblestones.
’The Fu Clan wants this shipment before dusk. If a single crate of blood stones cracks open because of a loose rope, I’ll feed you mortal to wolves.’
Evan didn’t look at the guards directly; high level cultivators could sense a lingering gaze. Instead, he kept his eyes on the heavy canvas flap of the final wagon in the line. It was loaded with barrels of salted meat and preserved rations.
The System’s timer was a relentless, glowing visual in the corner of his vision.
[ Time Remaining: 1 Hour 42 Minutes ]
When the guards turned their backs to wrangle a stubborn Gloom-Ox, Evan moved. He didn’t use a flashy movement technique, rather he simply got inside the wagon where the goods were placed.
The interior of the wagon smelled of stale salt, old wood, and cured fat. He squeezed himself into a narrow gap between two massive oak barrels, pulling his knees to his chest. Santiago’s bone dagger pressed reassuringly against his ribs, its milky white surface cool even in the suffocating heat.
A few minutes later, with a heavy groan of wood and the thunderous stamping of hooves, the caravan began to move.
The ride was a grueling test of endurance. The wagon bounced violently over the jagged mountain paths, slamming Evan’s shoulders against the rough wood of the barrels. Every jolt sent a spike of pain through his body, but he gritted his teeth, trying to control the pain.
Evan held his breath, pressing his palm over his heart where the dead Qi-reducing worm lay.
The wagon rolled onward, the sound of the gate chains rattling shut behind them signaling his successful escape. He was officially outside the sect.
Nearly an hour passed before the caravan slowed down to navigate a steep, treacherous switchback around the mountain’s jagged shoulder. The dense, oppressive pressure of the sect’s core formation had entirely vanished, replaced by the raw, chaotic energy of the wilderness.
Evan knew this was his stop.
With absolute precision, Evan rolled out from the back of the moving wagon, landing silently in the thick, rotting mulch at the edge of the path. He didn’t stop to watch the caravan roll away.
[ Time Remaining: 44 Minutes ]
’F*ck it took too much time to get here, I have got to kill these things fast.’
The wilderness outside the sect was a different world. The air tasted heavy, laden with the scent of pine sap, damp earth, and the faint, unmistakable smell of rotting flesh. This was the territory where the laws of the Sect did not matter,
Evan drew Santiago’s bone dagger. The golden dragon pommel caught the fading sunlight, its blue reptilian eyes seemingly alive in the gloom.
He moved like a ghost through the trees, his senses pushed to their absolute limits. He walked for ten minutes, deep into the heart of the craggy valleys, searching for any sign of his targets.Then, the wind shifted.
A sharp, metallic scent hit his nose, it was an unmistakable aroma of fresh, oxygenated blood. It wasn’t human blood, rather it was thicker, muskier, and carried an undercurrent of raw, unrefined Qi.
Evan lowered his center of gravity, sliding behind a moss-covered boulder. He peeked over the edge into a small, sunken ravine.
There, tearing into the carcass of a mountain stag, were three massive beasts.
They were easily the size of a grown horse, their bodies covered in matted, crimson-colored fur that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. Their eyes were glowing slits of malicious orange light, and from their jaws, thick, viscous saliva dripped, sizzling slightly as it hit the grass.
These were Mountain Blood Wolves, beasts born with an aperture, known for their pack tactics and relentless bloodlust. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Sometimes these Mountain Blood Wolves had a Blood worm inside them.
As Evan watched, two more wolves stepped out from the shadows of the tree line, their ears twitching as they sniffed the air.
Five in total, this was exactly what the System demanded.
The largest of the pack, a scar-faced alpha with dark grey fur mixed into its crimson coat, suddenly stopped chewing. It turned its massive head directly toward the boulder where Evan was hiding, its nostrils flaring as it caught a foreign scent on the wind.
He let out a slow, silent breath and gripped the bone dagger tightly, his thumb resting against the guard.
’Then I guess... let’s begin.’
