After a few minutes of calmly walking, Li Shen decided to just run the rest of the way. If he continue walking like this he would take forever.
His figure leaped from tree branch to tree branch as agile as any monkey would.
There wasn’t a specific road leading to the core region so this was his only option.
With his speed, it didn’t take long before he reached the core region. In his robes, he felt a sudden movement. Taking out the jade slip his father gave him, he saw that it was glowing with a golden hue and a lotus had appeared on its once blank surface.
Li Shen leaped down from a tree to the ground and looked up ahead.
There were only dense foliage and trees but he sense something not too far away from him.
Walking closer, he felt the jade slip in his hand tremble even more, its golden hue becoming brighter and brighter.
Li Shen reached out his hand in the empty air. Well, it was supposed to be empty but he touch a barrier of some kind.
His hand went through it easily as the jade slip continue to produce a radiant glow.
“I wonder what’s in here? I only wanted somewhere secluded to observe this pill furnace, and I read that the Elders’ cultivation grounds had powerful formations so I thought it was the best place to do it without anyone snooping. But I hadn’t expected father to give me access to such a well-guarded place. The middle region was just fine since I passed a few good spots.”
Li Shen retrieved his hand from the barrier.
“Well, I might as well take a look if I have the chance. Excuse the intrusion!”
Li Shen said before he fully stepped into the barrier and disappeared. His cautious attitude seemed to be disappearing bit by bit, or did he even had one to begin with?
Unbeknownst to him, someone in a cave several miles away had his eyes trained in his direction. It was as if the person could see through the cave he was in.
After watching Li Shen enter the barrier, he looked away and close his eyes.
“That isn’t a place just anyone from our Li Clan can enter. Well, as long as he doesn’t cause me any trouble I don’t care.”
Li Shen after leaping into the barrier had to squint his eyes.
“Ugh, what?”
A bright sun was shining overhead.
Completely stunned that it went from night to day, Li Shen's tried to adjust his eyes before he hurriedly started to look around.
However, he suddenly felt a strong impact to his side that sent his body flying like a rag doll through the air.
Slamming onto the ground hard and rolling to a stop, Li Shen then coughed out a mouth full of blood and clutched his side. His right arm was completely limp.
The pain coming from it made him guess a few of his ribs were broken along with his arm.
“Wh-what the frick was that?”
Li Shen stuttered out before he looked up to see a stone giant around fifteen to twenty meters tall charging towards him.
No time to think, Li Shen forcefully pushed off the ground. The large club in the stone giant's hand let out a loud bang as it greeted the ground. It instantly cracked it, sending rumble everywhere.
The shock wave of the blow caused a retreating Li Shen’s clothes to flap wildly.
Seeing this, he felt a cold chill go down his spine.
“Where the hell did this thing come from all of a sudden? And how did I not sense its attack from before?”
Li Shen wiped away the blood at the corner of his lips but saw the stone giant suddenly turning to him.
Its giant figure actually only took two steps to cross the forty-meter distance between them and easily come to loom over him.
Shock by its speed Li Shen went to dodge, but as the mountain-sized club came down on his head he felt his body freeze.
“WHAT?!!”
Not understanding what was going on, Li Shen quickly conjured a black shield made from Metal Qi to block the attack. However, after a loud bang, it completely shattered sending him flying back while coughing out blood once again.
Rolling to a stop on his back, Li Shen slowly got up to see the stone giant charging towards him. Its club was once again swinging down on him.
Li Shen’s eyes became completely bloodshot from rage.
He didn’t know what was going on or why this thing was attacking him, but he was completely pissed. It wasn’t giving him any time to catch his bearings.
“BASTARD!!”
Completely enraged, Li Shen swung out his left hand towards the stone giant. A four-meter blazing Sword Qi covered in scorching hot flames was then quickly materialized and stabbed towards it.
The stone giant’s club was already in full swing and it met the fire Sword Qi.
It's club destroyed it, but the impact caused it to be knocked back, with its entire body being engulfed in flames.
Li Shen finally had time to calm down, but as the fire around the giant faded away, its undamaged body was revealed standing on the completely scorched ground.
However, before the stone giant could charge towards him again, Li Shen lifted his hand and clenched it.
Earth Qi suddenly rose from beneath the stone giant to wrap around its club in earth chains. More then began to quickly appear before moving up the stone giant's arm.
The stone giant realizing this went to grab the club with both hands to forcefully free it, but Li Shen’s eyes narrowed before he motioned towards it once again.
Earth Qi rose from the earth and wrapped around its remaining hand.
Li Shen then motioned to the earth chains and they began to stretch the stone giant.
The stone giant immediately began resisting and even broke apart Li Shen’s earth chains, however, Li Shen quickly conjured a two-meter Sword Qi made from wind before he charges towards it.
Using his full strength he target the stone giant’s arm that held the club. A bright flash followed as he severed it.
Li Shen landed on the ground behind the giant, at the same time its arm let out a thud upon hitting the ground.
Turning around, he immediately motioned towards the arm and completely wrapped it in earth chains.
Having one of its arms missing, the stone giant's struggles lessen considerably.
Li Shen then bent his knees and leap onto the stone giant’s twenty meter body.
Standing on its head he looked down at it and coldly said.
“Kneel.”
The earth chains surrounding the stone giant multiplied and forcefully pull it down into a kneeling position.
The ground trembled as this behemoth landed on its knees.
The earth chains didn’t stop and continued to wrap around it until it almost resemble a cocoon.
After suppressing the stone giant, Li Shen’s cold expression fell before dropping into a sitting position.
Closing his eyes, he sent out his Divine Will into the surroundings to check if there were any more of these stone giants.
After extending it to two hundred meters and finding nothing, he didn’t retrieve his Divine Will and instead let it remain. Meanwhile, he sent a part of his perception inside his body to examine the injuries he sustained.
‘A broken arm, three broken rib cages, and damage to my internal organs.’
Li Shen's face scrunched up into an ugly expression before he gathered Wood Qi in the surroundings to help soothe his aching body.
“This is the first time I was injured like this.”
Li Shen said opening his eyes after a while.
“Damn it, I don’t like it, it’s too painful receiving injuries. I prefer being the one giving them out.”
After saying that, Li Shen thought for a moment before he flipped over his palm. A pill glowing with a pure white light appeared on it.
Looking at it, Li Shen said again.
“This is also the first time I’ll be consuming a medicinal pill.”
After, he threw the white pill into his mouth, however, he almost threw it back up, but somehow manage to stop himself.
After forcefully swallowing the pill, Li Shen felt like he was about to puke his guts out.
“Ugh! Are pills supposed to taste this awful? What a scam!! It looked so good but to think it was this disgusting, ugh.”
Li Shen covered his mouth and his face turned green.
“Why couldn’t they make it a lot tastier?”
The pill he swallowed was something he had taken from the Li Clan treasury. It was supposed to be a Class 4 healing pill with an 80% medicinal effect, that could heal broken bones and organ damage.
Even though he felt his injuries being healed in real time, Li Shen was convinced that it was a rotten pill.
He knew because of the concoction and storing methods by Alchemist, medicinal pills aren’t easy to go bad, but this one must have!
Or why else would the taste be so horrendous?
After suppressing the urge to vomit, Li Shen examined his completely healed body. His previous displeasure faded and he smile in satisfaction.
“They say cultivation is all about the struggle of improving oneself and acquiring resources to cultivate. This means I'm slowly becoming a cultivator.”
Li Shen's smile then turned into a big grin.
However, this right here proves it.
Spoiled.
He was a completely and utterly spoiled brat.
He was showing signs of it before, but now he was going too far!
Casually taking out a Class 4 medicinal pill and then complaining about the taste of it was completely ridiculous. If a cultivator in the outside world was here to hear him, they would have coughed up blood and then immediately die on the spot while cursing ungratefulness.
Li Shen was ultimately the Second Prince of the Maple Continent, so the resources at his disposal were something 95% of the continent couldn’t fathom.
But he didn’t know that, he must have thought everyone's "difficulty" and "problems" was the same as his. Getting barely injured and then getting happy he was living the "struggle" of a cultivator.
Was a complete and utter joke!
He might have the emotions and pain from his past life living as a slave, but his perception of the struggles of the cultivation world in this era had been warped because of his position.
He doesn’t know it yet, but he’ll come to understand soon enough how easy he had it...
After finishing his recovery, Li Shen stood up to look around.
He already saw the place with his Divine Will, but nothing beats seeing it with his own eyes.
The terrain of this place was completely different from the dense forest he was previously in. Now, he was surrounded by collapsed ruins he assumed was once buildings of some sort.
It kind of resembled a city with sparse buildings the more Li Shen look at it.
“It seems after I entered the barrier I was transported to a random place.”
Li Shen speculated but was sure that was the case.
As he was looking around, the stone giant below him shook, still trying to free itself.
Looking down at it, Li Shen's face scrunched up and he stomped on its head.
“Stay still you bag of rocks!”
The earth chains tighten around it preventing it from even moving a little.
“Attacking me out of nowhere, what even are you? I couldn’t sense your presence at all.”
Leaping off the giant, Li Shen slowly landed on the ground before holding his hips with his hands.
Staring up at the stone giant’s featureless face he said begrudgingly.
“That’s the only way you had manage to catch me off guard, bastard.”
After making sure the thing knew the reason why it hurt him, Li Shen's eyes landed on its severed arm bext to it, more specifically the club in it.
“And this thing, it's completely strange.”
While saying that he moved to examine it.
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