Journey of True Cultivation-Chapter 84: One Month of Silence

A month passed quickly, like a light breeze slipping by unnoticed.

A young man in a dark green robe moved through the area, his long, shining blond hair flowing behind him. His emerald green eyes flickered with a hint of nervousness as he searched among the many sealed caves.

There were hundreds of these caves on this small mountain, each one used by fellow disciples and junior sect members for cultivation. But today, the young man had an important task, he was under orders to deliver a message to his vice leader.

Each time he checked a cave only to find it wasn't the one he was looking for, his frustration grew.

"Another wrong one," he muttered, sighing as he turned to head toward the next cave. Over and over, he had checked countless entrances, and still, he hadn't found the right one.

"I really should have listened to Team Leader Li... This mountain has far too many sealed caves," he grumbled, shaking his head as his frustration built with each failure. Still, he refused to give up. His orders were clear, he had to find Vice Leader Yuan.

The next cave he approached was sealed by a large stone slab. Although the stone was massive and fully blocked the entrance, this wasn't unusual, many disciples sealed their caves in this way.

As he had done many times before, the young man raised his voice, calling out loudly toward the cave.

"Vice Leader Yuan! Vice Leader Yuan! I have orders from the Team Leader, please come out!"

Just as he finished shouting and was about to turn away, something unexpected happened.

The huge stone sealing the cave shattered into countless pieces with a loud crack.

The shattered pieces of the stone seal flew in all directions, forcing the young man to quickly dodge as one large fragment came crashing down toward his head.

Seeing the heavy stone land exactly where he had been standing just a moment before sent a cold shiver down his spine, freezing him in place out of pure fear.

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But his frozen state was broken the moment he heard a voice calling out from within the cave.

"What order?"

The voice was calm, emotionless, and echoed faintly from inside the still misty entrance of the cave. Brown mist continued to swirl at the opening, concealing the figure within.

Startled by the voice, the young man looked toward the cave, his body tense with nervousness. His voice wavered as he stammered,"V-Vice L-Leader Y-Yuan...?"

Yuan's voice responded again, just as flat and cold as before."Yes. Speak. What's the order?"

There was no warmth, no impatience, just direct, indifferent authority. The tone alone made the young man feel even smaller.

Gulping down his fear, the young man took a shaky breath to calm himself before answering properly.

"I... I am Inner Sect disciple Di Zuo! I was sent by Team Leader Li Yun!" he announced, trying to steady his voice.

Yuan remained silent, waiting.

Di Zuo took another deep breath, gathering his courage before continuing.

"Team Leader Li has ordered me to inform you that we will now be joining the main war effort against the Blue Family. He said that you should be prepared to descend the mountain tomorrow and march alongside him to support the main army."

With that, Di Zuo finished relaying the message. His task was simple: deliver the orders to the vice leader and make sure he was informed about the upcoming battle. After all, Di Zuo was still just a henchman, a newly advanced Inner Sect disciple, assigned to small duties like this.

Hearing this, Yuan simply nodded and for the first time, he became fully visible to Di Zuo as the brown mist at the entrance of the cave faded away, carried off by the gentle blowing wind.

There, standing before him, was a handsome young man with a unique pair of azure black eyes, their colors constantly shifting like swirling water. His long, messy black hair fell loosely over his shoulders, and he wore a dust covered dark green robe.

Despite the many bloodstains on the robe, Di Zuo noticed something strange there were no visible cuts or damage on the fabric itself.

As Di Zuo observed Yuan more closely, memories surfaced of the stories he had heard from the other disciples, the ones who had participated in the early battles of the Crystal River Region.

It was said that during the assault on the three tribes, Vice Leader Yuan had been the only one, apart from the Supreme Squad Leader, to suffer injuries. Yet even then, it was told that throughout the battle, Yuan had tirelessly supported the entire team, saving many of their fellow disciples from death.

Though not widely famous across the whole army, Yuan's name was well known and respected within their own team.

Finishing his brief observation of Yuan, Di Zuo bowed politely, a small gesture of respect to his superior and then turned to leave, making his way down the small mountain where Yuan had been staying.

This particular mountain peak was now occupied by Yuan alone. Li Yun and the other team members had already moved to a larger peak that had been assigned to them for rest and recovery. Knowing that Yuan was in seclusion for cultivation, they had chosen not to disturb him.

Following Li Yun's orders, they had simply left him there to focus on his training in peace.

But Yuan did not leave the small mountain, nor did he move from his lotus position. Instead, he calmly closed his eyes once more, a faint smile forming on his lips.

After all, during this one month of seclusion, he had swallowed countless pills to strengthen his cultivation and the results were truly rewarding.

"Eighty six percent," Yuan muttered quietly beneath his smile. "Good... this is truly good. Only fourteen more months of silent cultivation, and I could reach the peak layer of the Blood Purification Stage."

His eyes remained closed as he let out a soft, satisfied chuckle.

"But now... aside from the pills specifically meant for the breakthrough to the peak layer, I've already consumed all the others I had collected."

Yuan's smile deepened slightly at this thought. The timing of his emergence from seclusion was, indeed, perfect. Without the supply of pills, his cultivation speed would begin to slow down. Which meant... it was time once again to return to the battlefield, to slaughter and to loot once again countless corpses.

With that decision made, Yuan closed his eyes once more, focusing on recovering the spiritual blood he had consumed during his month of intense cultivation.

The shining sun slowly descended, giving way to the rise of the moon, bathing the world in soft silver light. But just as the sun had set, the moon too, in its time, fell back beneath the horizon, allowing the morning sun to rise again and greet the world with its warm golden rays.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin, Yuan finally opened his eyes.

He looked up at the clear blue sky, watching the white clouds drift lazily by, touched by the gentle light of the morning sun.

For a moment, Yuan simply stood there, quietly enjoying the sunlight on his face, basking in the calm before the next storm of battle.

Then, as the moment of peace passed, he opened his azure black eyes fully, placed his hands behind his back, and began walking down the mountain, his steps steady, his expression calm.