Chapter 372 - Kindness

"Are you okay now, boy?"

"Leo… don't call me boy, that's disrespectful to my name."

"… okay, Leo, that was my fault, are you okay now?" 

Leo nodded, Wang Ling quietly placed his hand atop the child's head then whispered to him, "Then that is good… have you eaten yet?"

Grrrrr!

"The sound of a grumbling stomach answers for you. Stay here, I'll retrieve some food." 

"Where are you going? You are still hurt."

"I'm going to hunt some food, this body may be damaged, but it is healing just fine. Me staying here will not help, I have too much energy to burn, I must go and find ways to keep my body moving."

Wang Lings stood up from where he sat, he saw the mountain vegetables and the basin used by the boy to nurture him, and he intended to do the same. Besides, Wang Ling had no ability to leave the boy.

In actuality he found this boy to be the same as he, somewhat who would one way or another destroy himself with the idea of revenge. He would grow strong, but the end result would be a lost path that no one could escape from.

[I managed to escape my fate because I managed to live several lives, I needed such a long time and so many people to make me realize that my path leads nowhere but self-destruction. The boy has no one, and I can only see him dying with a blade on his back unless he rises up to be someone who dominates an era.]

Wang Ling's thoughts preoccupied him until he walked out of the house and felt someone tugging on his clothes.

"Are you going to leave? I—I have already collected vegetables for dinner… you do not have to trouble yourself."

Turning around he found Leo looking at him with hesitant eyes — fear also mixed in. Being alone in this world already frightened the boy, Wang Ling may not be his brother anymore, but… at least he was with him.

With but a sigh Wang Ling ruffled the boy's hair, "Worry not for I will not leave you… I merely wish to hunt for food, your efforts to gather mountain vegetables is admirable, but with my body, I need something that can provide more energy."

"But it will be easier to digest."

"It lacks the energy to fill me, the moment I cultivate with that feeling my belly, I will be deprived of nutrients in five minutes."

In the past, Wang Ling did not think of the consequences of having the two Godly Bloodlines and qi flowing down his veins because of his family's wealth and the supreme spirit qi to help him stymie any backlash.

[Without the Supreme Spirit Qi there is no bonding agent for the two qi so using them would be harder if I don't have complete and utter control of my power. I have to create a stronger body else the moment I use the black qi, I really will die… much less the qi of chaos.]

He used to have four different qi under his disposal, but, now, he basically has one functional qi and three ticking time bombs.

"My situation is rather complex that even someone like me is having problems with living. Truly, I am in quite a pickle." 

"You say that but your expression fails to convey your point."

Wang Ling noticed he had been smiling this entire time, "Well, I'm just glad to be alive, is all and that's something I came into terms with only after the third life."

"Wait, third?"

Wang Ling just smiled at the slacked-jawed kid before quickly taking his leave. From afar Wang Ling could see the boy being troubled by his sudden disappearance, "Do not worry, Leo, I shall return. Just wait for me."

A verbal contract was not binding, but that seemed to have done the trick for the boy to calm down even by just a little. Wang Ling finally readied himself.

He stretched his limbs, tested his fingers, and then observed his internal flow and body. 

He breathed a sigh of relief.

[Thanks to the Overhaul Phoenix Rebirth Technique — no, is it actually a constitution? Well, either way, it is harmonizing with the Holy Qi hastening my recovery, hahaha, maybe, with this… I'll be able to do something interesting.]

Laughing to himself, Wang Ling went hunting for food. He didn't need to scavenge the area that long because he found a suitable target after a few minutes. 

It was a giant boar with red skin strutting about. 

Smiling, Wang Ling dashed forth, he turned his fingers to the strongest and sharpest blades possible. 

He then swung the finger blades and blood spurted out of the beast's neck.

Buhiiiiii!

The beast fell with a massive cut on its neck.

But it was not only its neck that was bleeding as Wang Ling's fingers also had bones sticking out of it.

[This body is neither tempered by sword qi nor have the physicality of a Devil. Regaining my strength is going to be a nuisance… I first need to make my body stronger.]

Popping his bones into his fingers, Wang Ling endured the pain and then dragged the boar's body back home. 

The boy was surprised by this sudden haul, after such a long time he would be able to eat meat once more.

When Wang Ling was about to gut the beast, Leo offered to help.

"Do you know how to do it?" asked Wang Ling.

"Yes, I know how to do it."

Wang Ling stopped his asking and just let him do what he wanted.

"Do it, but if I see you struggling, I will come and assist you."

"Thank you…" he said with a smile.

And to Wang Ling's surprise, Leo managed to clean the Boar in a manner of two hours. Though halfway through Wang Ling already began getting the water from the nearby river for their usage.

Seeing the prepared meat before him by a child made impressed even Wang Ling.

"Didn't think you'd be this good — good job."

"Hahaha… thank you for the praises." he made an awkward laugh.

"Did you learn it on your own?"

"Yes, I learned it after going to a slaughterhouse wanting to impress my brother… our family may have the title of noble but we had never been rich. I couldn't train in the ways of our family's fist technique, so I can at least have a future."

"…he'd be proud of your achievements."

The child smiled at Wang Ling's words.

The smile he possessed was forced, but that was only because he decided to also move forward. It would not be easy but he would try.

That night the boar was cleaned and roasted; they didn't have anywhere to keep it so they would have to eat it down to its bones. 

Though it smelled a little, the meat was still rather delicious.

And while they were eating, Wang Ling an awkward silence pervaded the air.

It would not have mattered to Wang Ling because he preferred such silence, but he noticed the jittering Leo, wanting to ask something. 

"Do you have something you wish to ask me?" Wang Ling decided to humor the kid.

"Ah, yes, I just want to know who you are… I don't really even know your name and know what to call you. You may possess my brother's body, but… I also know that you are not him, I wish to respect the name that has been given to you."

Realizing that he had not even introduced himself to Leo made Wang Ling shake his head. It had slipped his mind.

"My name is Wang Ling; I am from the world called Celestial Spirit Realm. I am an Immortal who died trying to kill the person who controls the Abyssal Demons. I died, but… I managed to live, though it seems a lot of time had passed since that time."

"Celestial Spirit Realm? Immortals? Abyssal Demons?"

"Oh, it seems like you don't know them. Well, to put it simply, the Celestial Spirit Realm is another world beyond the cosmos — Immortals are beings who possess great power and live for hundreds of thousands of years — and as for Abyssal Demons, they are what you call the [Demons of the Beyond]."

"You fought with the leader of the Demons of the Beyond!?" Leo threw everything that he been said to him as the last one was more important than the rest.

The Demons of the Beyond or the Abyssal Demons from what Wang Ling could recall has become a problem of this world. One part of this world had already been turned into a wasteland because of the Demons' existence.

These Demons were so strong that they were known as an unstoppable scourge. If not for the Sword God's interference then this world would have long been destroyed.

"Are you lying to me? Even the Sword God almost died trying to slay a Rank-9 Demon, and you're telling me you fought against their leader? That is simply unbelievable." of course Leo would doubt Wang Ling's claims.

"It is up to you what to believe, but all I am saying is that I fought him. I actually thought I killed him, but seeing the Abyssal Demons are still around, I don't think I succeeded in doing so."

Wang Ling already knew of the Gray Figure, or rather, the General's survival. He was simply being dramatic for the kid to replace the dampening atmosphere.

But one word stuck to him, "Sword God" that simple title made Wang Ling smile.

From what he could from Lucius' memories, the title of Sword God belongs to only one person in the entire cosmos.

[How fascinating, a name that is claimed by only one person in the Universe. Maybe, if I can claim that title, it'll be easier finding my family.]

The title of Sword God interested Wang Ling.