11 The Battle in the Cherub waters

Zhen Shi continued to train his finger strength and physical body strength in the liquid diamond pool. He would also occasionally test out his archery and the understanding gained from the skill book. He had quickly mastered the skill, but he could vaguely sense that there was more to it than on the surface. Still, despite many attempts, he wasn't able to comprehend that, and his pride refused to allow him to directly ask the old man. One week passed with him training the entire time. His training would stop just to have meals and chat with Isolde, occasionally with the presence of old man Alec as well.

In such a meal where Isolde was alone with Zhen Shi, one of many they had enjoyed together, Isolde suddenly asked Zhen Shi, "What does the Zhen Clan mean to you?" Zhen Shi grimaced as she reminded him of the only faction he had an unbearable grudge against in this life. His face contorted in great anger and his eyes shone with malice and killing intent. Isolde grew frightened but quickly calmed down... as she had faith in Zhen Shi.

Zhen Shi too quickly calmed his anger. His memories of the 'old Zhen Shi' had arisen causing his anger to bubble out. Still, he laughed saying, "If there is anyone I will not hesitate to destroy given the chance, it is the Zhen Clan without a doubt!" Isolde heaved a sigh as if she had been worried over nothing, but still curiously asked, "But isn't your surname Zheng? Aren't you of the Zhen Clan?"

Zhen Shi was aware as to why Isolde was asking this as he had the memories of the former Zhen Shi. Thus he continued with gritted teeth, "Yes, I am of the Zhen Clan. That is exactly why I will never forgive those pieces of green shit!" Isolde was surprised at his manner of speaking and his hatred but was still satisfied with his answer. Isolde now smiled lightly, "Well I'm sorry for having ruined the mood. Let's forget this...!" Zhen Shi smiled as well.

Just like that another week passed. The time he had spent here had been truly enjoyable and fruitful. Of course, it was all because of the beautiful Isolde. Nothing to do with that old man Alec, he just ruined everything.

Zhen Shi had improved greatly in this period. He could now move around in the liquid diamond pool with next to no support from granting him the physical strength of peak core formation, and his understanding of the art of archery had finally leveled up to what the old man Alec had shown before in their archery competition. Zhen Shi was all smiles as he exited the room via the passage, to which he had been given control as well. He felt a tinge of sorrow as he felt he'd have to leave soon to level up.

Zhen Shi walked through the courtly and noble corridors finally reaching a green meadow, full of life and giving off a mystical aura. This was the mansion gardens where he and Isolde usually had meals in unless of course, that DAMN OLD MAN disturbed them. In the center of these gardens, was a fountain with a cherub [Cherub: An innocent-looking child with wings, basically a baby angel] standing on it. This cherub was poised in a graceful posture with a stream of water trickling off his mouth.

And on the edge of the wall of this pond was an actual angel...Isolde. Her hair was lightly wafting in the air and her face was slowly being adorned with a smile as she saw Zhen Shi.

During their time together, she had asked him to join the mansion's private army and serve in a lofty position several times but he always refused her. Watching Zhen Shi walk over this time she didn't make her usual request and instead, "Tell me why are you so against joining me and the Lyonesse kingdom? With your hatred against the Zhen Clan, everything would be perfect!"

Zhen Shi already knew that there was great enmity between the Lyonesse kingdom and the top clan of the Lyonesse region, the Zhen Clan. Although there had been several attempts to solve their disagreements they had ended up in failure so far. Thus Zhen Shi lightly spoke, "I don't wish to shackle my wings and lose my right to fly in the sky. After all, what life is meaningful if you live it for others and not yourself??"

Isolde gawked in amazement at his statement. This was truly awe-inspiring to her who had lived her entire life for her father and the kingdom...

Honestly, what Zhen Shi said was part bullshit but also part of his real feelings. These types of situations were fairly common in stories so he took inspiration from a bunch of them while adding his own feelings.

HAHA! System, ain't I awesome?

System: "....."

Isolde shook her head and smiled sadly, "Zhen Shi only you can say something like that! I'd truly love to adhere to your ideals as well. But, I can't leave my father or Grandpa Alec alone. Many other things are holding me back as well..."

Zhen Shi grinned and grabbed her shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry Isolde. No need to be so serious. Solve all these problems first. I'll come to visit you often, so when you're ready you can join me on an epic adventure all over the world!"

She was truly happy with this suggestion. She could already imagine her joining Zhen Shi with Grandpa Alec to journey the world, watch on as he improved with this peaceful and satisfied feeling in her heart. But, "Wait, what? Visit me often? Zhen Shi, are you leaving in such a hurry? Where will you go?" asked Isolde with sorrow and disappointment in her eyes.

Zhen Shi laughed, "Although I hate the Zhen Clan, my sister is still there! I'll also train in the Berthelien forest. I'll be back to visit you before leaving for the Zhen Clan of course!"

"Sister...?" Isolde frowned momentarily but pushed it out of her mind and said, "Fine, but you better keep your promise. I'll be bored without you... Shouldn't you bid goodbye to Grandpa Alec as well?" with a light smile.

"Eh? Who cares about some old man?" saying so he leaned very close to Isolde's face, "Come, give big brother a kiss for good luck!" Isolde's face blushed red and surprised by the sudden situation she backed away... causing her to fall into the Cherub fountain!

SPLLAAASSHHH!!

Zhen Shi's eyes widened. He had only been teasing her and she had fallen into the fountain... He hurried over to help her out and grabbed her hand to pull her out. And out came an Isolde with an unhappy frown on her face... and her wet dress sticking to her body. She had realized that Zhen Shi had only been playing around and so wasn't that mad, but wasn't willing to completely forgive him either. As such she hurriedly splashed and hurled water on to him as well.

It wasn't that Zhen Shi couldn't dodge it. Even if he was unable to, with his aqua roots, this much of water could definitely be controlled, but for Isolde's sake, he smiled and let it hit him. But of course, he controlled some water aether to splash her once again. This continued for some time until they were both laughing and soaked to their bones.

Now completely satisfied, Isolde had a simple smile on her face. Zhen Shi stood up and dried his clothes with light fire and wind aether. Isolde who watched this frowned, "Hey, shouldn't the world's undefeated gentleman help a lady out first?" and shouted out in mock anger. Zhen Shi grinned at her and leaned close to her once again, but of course, this time Isolde who was used to it didn't react by falling into the fountain.

"BECAUSE I am a gentleman I can't help you. How can I take away things that make a lady more beautiful? That dress looks so much better on you now!" said Zhen Shi with a satisfied smirk while looking at her with unblinking eyes. "But, Alas, I have to get going now. If I stay any longer I might never leave your side. But, I'll definitely be back and maybe keep looking the same then as well?" said Zhen Shi with a laugh as he lightly waved his hand disappearing into the wind.

She smiled at his ridiculous reply, but with a faint hint of sadness and sorrow. Now alone she looked at her reflection in the fountain waters. She gawked at the sight of the woman with the wet dress clinging on to her body. Now she understood what Zhen Shi meant and blushed a deep red while hurriedly running back into the mansion.

In a balcony, on a higher floor of the mansion, an old man was looking down on the cherub fountain. He lightly muttered, "Ughh, that little bastard didn't even come to say goodbye to his master..." he shook his head with an unhappy frown and walked back to the door planning to meet the young lady. But he stopped as he noticed a light blue envelope poking from under his door. On it were the words, "To that annoying old man."

Alec bent down to pick it with a light smile on his face...

????????????????????????????????

Zhen Shi was dashing through the Betherlien forest with the wind on his back. The forest was filled with tall evergreen trees, thick foliage, and shrubs. Wherever you looked, one would be met with that lively dark green. The sunlight was mystically shining through the tree leaves and some animalistic sounds could be heard.

But these animals sounds weren't the occasional cry of a bird or an owl. No, they were the low guttural howls of demonic beasts. Zhen Shi was speeding along so that he could grab the attention of as many beasts as possible. These beasts were unafraid of this core formation cultivator as he was completely alone and they greatly outnumbered them.

Zhen Shi finally stopped in an open meadow. But the demonic beasts did not. Lions, Tigers, Serpents, mixed hybrids and all sorts of unique beasts launched at him in an attack. But Zhen Shi just calmly grinned and hurled out obscenities finishing with, "O beasts of Berthelien forest, today is your greatest fortune. The good karma accumulated over your lifetimes has brought you this reward. For today you will see this handsome and scholarly one's true self, so you can repent and die in shame!!"

He let out his core formation aura and used his spiritual energy to bring his pants down, "Shaming the heavens!"

There was no way he was doing that with his own hands, unless absolutely necessary!

This group of tens of beasts paused in shock completely unable to move. Most of them were at the foundation establishment stage and there were a few core formation stage beasts. They would've vomited blood the moment that they realized that 'the good karma across their lifetimes brought them this [vision of the heavens]', but they didn't as they were being affected by the skill.

Zhen Shi grinned, "System did you see that? They are so happy and satisfied, they're stupefied. These beasts are probably blessing the karma that led them to this point."

System: "....."

There were some female beasts within the horde but they were so weak that they too were frozen unbale to show any strange effects. Zhen Shi sighed deeply, "Alas, forgive me, my beasty friends. I must now take away this happiness away from you. As a last kindness on my part, I'll let you die with this vision in your mind. I know that to live once seeing this masterpiece is impossible, as such farewell."

Alas! Being so handsome is truly a curse.....

He summoned the wind and shuffled back and forth forming two of himself. This was a multi-tasking skill he had comprehended by himself based on his understanding of wind aether. Weaker targets would only be able to see tow of himself. One summoned a black flame and the other brought out a fairly good bow he had picked out from the old man's stash. He didn't use the divine bow as he wasn't strong enough to use it to rapid-fire. These two apparitions simultaneously threw out black fireballs and arrows.

By the time they stopped, the ground was littered with corpses. Most were skewered with arrows in their eyes and very few were burned. This wasn't because was limited in effect but because the other affected beasts had simply turned to dust. He could have done better with his physical strength. But then he wouldn't have gained any OP. So he had used his skills.

Ding!

Congratulations to the user for skewering a foundation establishment stage cultivator!

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The user has gained 1000 exp... x35

Congratulations to the user for burning a core formation stage cultivator!

The user has gained 10000 exp x 6

Congratulations to the user for earning 5 OP!

SHIET! System, what's with this pitiful amount of exp? Was the eternal happiness granted to those beasts, not enough? Could it be that... I have to try harder?

System: "...."

Ding!

Congratulations to the user for reaching Core Formation Stage 5.

Ding!

User has gained 500 exp for skill

Ding!

The skill has reached the Gold tier!

Ding!

Congratulations to the user for defeating your first Core formation stage cultivator!

The user has gained a minor reward bag.

Oh? System aren't you nice. This should be a sufficient reward for my effort.

"Open minor reward bag!"

Ding!

Minor reward bag opened. You have gained 10 OP.

SHIET, SYSTEM! I take it back. Are you running out of ideas so much that you have fallen so far as to gift OP?

System:"....."

"Hmpf... Status!" shouted out the disappointed Zhen Shi.

User: Zhen Shi

Cultivation Level: Core Formation Stage 5 II Physical Body Level: Core formation Peak

Cultivation energy: 95%

Race: Probably Human

Cultivation Path: Base-

Skills: II II II

Exp points: 5,000/200,000

OP(Otaku Points): 35

Titles: Otherworld Reincarnator{Effect: Instant Spell Casting of most spells Intelligence +10 Charisma

+10)

Scholarly Bookworm{All user known data and information can be instantaneously viewed at the user's leisure. Never forget anything ever again!!}

Fake Tarzan(-Permanent 2x reaction increase)

Status: Normal(No effects)

Seeing nothing special, Zhen Shi intended to continue. He needed a stronger beast to get a general idea of his powers and also to level up faster. As luck would have it, "ROOOOAAAARR! How dare you kill so many of the Betherlien forest? How could you be so cruel? They were ONLY going to kill and eat you! This white and pure-hearted one will take your life in return!"

A large gorilla-type beast with shiny white fur lumbered in from amongst the trees. The notification above his head read [Soul Transformation-Mid].

What DA FUCK? How did I not hear this loud lumbering giant? WTF, Is it stupid? Only kill and eat me? MWAHAHA! This gorilla is funny!

"HAHA, don't worry, I ONLY killed them as well," Zhen Shi grinned happily and threw out a dozen and the fiery domes descended. After a few seconds, as the fiery domes disappeared, out came a completely pitch black gorilla!

He was roaring in pain. However, demonic beasts have much better physical strength than humans and most other races. As such although the gorilla was only hurt and it was not life-threatening, "NOOOO, my beautiful and pure white fur!!! How dare you defile me?? I'll kill and defecate on you!!"

"SHIET, you ugly pitch-black piece of shit, you're words are too dirty and unrefined for my scholarly ears. You defiled yourself! Go defecate in hell!" shouted Zhen Shi while his grin grew wider as he activated to full power. Azure Blue scales completely covered his body along with Vermillion feathers. Two horns arose from his head and a pair of wings rose from his back, while a draconic tail grew out from his back. His eyes glittered with malice and his grin looked demonic. The gorilla felt a great pressure on it, although the Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird was not related to its bloodline, they were still top tier divine beasts. As such the now pitch-black gorilla shuddered in fear and began to escape....or at least tried to...

FLAP! With a flap of his wings, Zhen Shi reappeared next to the gorilla and, SLASH! with a single claw strike, he ripped its head off.

Ding!

Congratulations to the user for killing a Soul Transformation-mid Demonic Beast!

The user has gained 80,000 exp.

FUCK! System before didn't you give me equal exp when killing those foundation establishment trashes with that Xue Yuehai? Now how can you give me less experience for killing this black piece of shit? System, you're like a fake POLITICIAN!

System: ( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ )

'Still, even that gorilla wasn't enough. I'll need someone stronger to check out my full strength. The nascent soul level should do I suppose' wondered Zhen Shi while deactivating .

Suddenly remembering that demonic corpses or rather their cores were valuable, Zhen Shi manifested his claws and ripped out the demonic core of the gorilla beast, it was pitch black. HUH, Though that gorilla was white on the outside it was black on the inside!

HAHA! There is a lesson to be learned here. But..... I don't give a shiet...

Zhen Shi continued to collect cores from the core formation beasts he had killed before as well. Other beasts were neglected as weaker beasts would not possess cores. He then placed them in a satchel he had 'borrowed' from the old man, rather unhappily.

SHIET! System can't you let me store this stuff in the inventory? Aren't you being too proud by only allowing system related items to be stored in it? You should know being too proud and acting like a braggart leads to a quick death!

System: (>ლ)

Sighing, Zhen Shi continued on his path. After running forwards he quickly realized that since the previous battle, no other beasts dared to follow him. No matter how proud beasts were they didn't actively seek death. Rather disappointed, he started to follow a faint trail until he arrived at a large mountain chasm. This chasm led into a misty and almost ghostly valley. It looked to be quite spacious but no one could say what lay within it. Even his connection to wind aether did not allow him to sense what was inside.

Rather curious but still cautious, Zhen Shi looked around and noticed a rotten piece of wood stuck onto a pole. On closer inspection, he realized that it was a signpost!

After several minutes of trying to read it, he finally realized what was written on it,

"THE VALLEY OF NO RETURN."