Tainted will

Ye Village, main entrance gate.

The sky was not yet bright, and the sun had yet to rise, two guards guarding the entrance gate were chatting with each other.

"Ahh, finally the beast tide is ending." one of the guards yawned as he spoke sheepishly.

"Yeah, but this time the losses were tremendous and it was just a small-scale beast tide, if it wasn't for that abnormal phenomenon we would have elders helping out those teams."

"Hmm, that's true. But have you heard that Lord Ji wushang's entire team has been killed except for Brother Bai."

"Of course I know, what do you take me for? But it is really hard to believe that one of the three strongest teams in our village is no more, sigh.."

"Humans will eventually die, But we have also gained a new uprising star, Fierce sword Bai Ming!"

"Hmph! what uprising star, this person's morals are lacking. Don't you know about his underhanded victory against Su Ming? If you ask me, he must have run away like a coward while his teammates were fighting for their lives."

"Your really stupid aren't you, judging people so easily. Hmph! let me tell you that brother Bai is a person worthy of respect and admiration. He single-handedly has saved more than 15 teams by himself, teams not individuals. My little brother was able to keep his life because of brother Bai and I shall never forget his life-saving grace till the moment of my death. As for him using underhanded methods, it is your lack of understanding towards the competition that's all, tell me can you have defeated a person in the elemental realm with just bone forging realm cultivation, of course not because you are not brother Bai Ming."

"Chill dude, I was not aware he had saved junior Jiang's life, it was my mistake okay." he secretly thought 'This Bai Ming must have changed after witnessing his teammate's death, he sure is lucky to have survived.'

Suddenly both of the guards became alert, they unsheathed their swords as they looked at the shadow slowly approaching them from the forest.

The shadow gradually got closer, the guards could make out it was a person, once they got a closer look at him, they could see the sword hanging on his waist, but what caught their eyes was the severed head in this man's right hand.

Once the person got closer, they could clearly see him now, but his entire being was covered in blood, and the stench of slaughter emanated from him.

"Halt, show me your identity badge" One of the guards spoke loudly.

The bloodied youth continued to walk and took out a jade emblem from his robe, and threw it toward the guards.

The guard Swiftly caught it, his eye narrowed as he read out "Bai Ming"

Bai Ming was right in front of the village entrance. He breathed in deeply and bellowed thunderously "I, Ye Bai Ming killed Luo clan's young master, Luo Sheng, and brought his head as a memorial to mourn the sacrifices of my Ye clan's heroic comrades."

Boom!

His words were like erupting volcanoes, everyone asleep in the Ye clan was jolted awake.

Bai Ming repeated his words two more times, his words were imbued with spiritual energy, making it travel through the entire village.

The two guards were stunned as they looked at Bai Ming with their mouths wide open, wide enough to hold an egg.

Next Bai Ming climbed the huge gate and stuck Luo Sheng's severed head on one of the sharp metallic poles.

After completing his work Bai Ming rushed home, after he woke up the entire village he wanted nothing more than to get a good sleep. He was exhausted both mentally and physically after having to fight the entire day, after the intense battle with Luo cai ended, Bai Ming had to constantly fight against the wild beast while returning to the village, his divine sense was completely spent hence he could not use it to scan his surroundings.

He wanted to sleep and recover his stamina and also get rid of the irritation his soul was feeling. Sleeping was a natural way to recover one's mental energy.

But when Bai Ming was sleeping soundly, the entire village was in shock, next the shock transformed into immense joy.

Many people who previously had a bad impression of Bai Ming, were now singing his praises like some divine chant.

Ye Qing Han was even on the verge of dancing from joy, his impression of Bai Ming rose by several steps. He continuously praised Bai Ming and even declared Bai Ming as the village hero.

Only the Medicinal hall elder's face was complicated, She did not think well of Bai Ming. Not too long ago, she was determined to interrogate Bai Ming and even punish him heavily, after all Ji wushang was someone from her ji family and was a high-grade talent seeing that Bai Ming was the only one to survive she felt hatred for him, but now that Bai Ming had killed Luo Sheng, the hope of the Luo village, their future village head, With Bai Ming's grand deed how could she pursue Bai Ming's crimes, if she did that would just be slapping her own face and asking for public rage.

After all, every time the village would have to sacrifice many of their clan's precious elders so that they can successfully assassinate the superior grade talent of the other village and many times they would even fail utterly, one could see from the instance when Su Ming was under the assassination attempt. But now Bai Ming alone had accomplished it, how big of a contribution was that?

Forget about questioning Bai Ming, he would have to be rewarded generously for his glorious achievement.

It started snowing, and Bai Ming lay on a soft bed, staring outside blankly. He had woken up after ten hour-long sleep.

His physical injuries had already healed, but the damage his soul has suffered wasn't that easy to heal.

When he woke up from his slumber, he suddenly felt a sense of loneliness.

He lay on his bed peacefully, his eyes remained open for over an entire hour. Even after a long sleep, Bai Ming felt some unrest in his mind, he thought of cultivating but decided to wait, because he couldn't concentrate. And without a stable mind cultivating might lead to dangerous problems or backlash. He would rather completely eliminate the mental unrest first.

"This feeling of loneliness is indeed blissful" Bai Ming spoke softly.

He fell in deep thought, "By now the entire village should be upside down, it's a good thing that I had placed a sign outside saying not to disturb."

"My current soul strength is similar to a 9th layer bone forging realm expert. If I leave it to recover by itself, it will probably take 3-4 months, but if I can raise my cultivation I can increase the speed of recovery. But before anything else, I should use that core formation realm expert's body to create the 3rd crescent, but the material in hand is only enough to complete 20-30% of the 3rd crescent. Doesn't matter even 20% completion means physical strength of 1st layer of core formation realm."

"As for cultivation, I have the spirit liquid with me. Which is more than enough to reach the core formation realm, but the issue is I can only set up a 1st-grade qi gathering formation now, first of all after setting up the third-grade formation I only have 30-40 spirit stones left, secondly my soul force is lacking, Sigh"

"Hmm, my thinking speed has been reduced" Bai Ming was slightly gloomy.

"I have also made an error, I am not sure what happened to Xin de's group." Bai Ming's face turned even more gloomy.

"But Xin de's group should have been killed, after all their group was injured and were running dry on spiritual essence, and seeing that those guards were with Luo Sheng they should have decent prowess. I'll have to check for Xin de's team just in case, as for those guards there is nothing I can do now and they don't have much worth either."

Humans make mistakes, but later in life, these same mistakes come and haunt us. Bai Ming made a mistake and now he could only be prepared for what might come from it. But this happened mainly because Bai Ming had reached his limits after the battle with Luo cai, his mental state was extremely chaotic at that moment, his only thought was to return to the village, there was nothing else he could think of at that moment. Even when he was facing the hell wolves on his way back instead of being swift and precise with his strikes, he was more brutal and violent this also reflected his mental state.

Bai Ming's main concern was Xin de's group being alive. As for those Luo guards, he didn't place too much attention on them, mainly because their threat was almost nonexistent, the news of Bai Ming killing Luo sheng will spread throughout Xuan mountain within a day or two. Bai Ming was also going to push the blame for his team's death on the Luo clan, but he didn't care if they refuted it because his clan would rather believe him than outsiders, but for that, he had to make sure Xin de's group was dead, if they weren't he would have to kill them himself.

"If I could get some herbs or pills to strengthen my soul.. sigh, it's just wishful thinking. Maybe, when I reach the core formation realm I might get a soul-based treasure from the panel, but chances of that happening are slim, but my chances of getting a soul-based pill in this forsaken place are even slimmer, damn it. Talent is just secondary in the world of cultivation, while resources come first. Even if a person has the lowest grade of talent but with enough resources, he can surpass a person with superior talent, and what I lack are these resources, these heavenly treasures, I can only be called a top-tier genius in this shitty place but once I travel outside I am average at best." Bai Ming got more frustrated, but he took a few deep breaths and calmed down. He understood that his mental state wasn't at its peak right now, he should avoid thinking unnecessary things.

"But this misfortune has brought some small benefits, I have done a great contribution towards the village so I would only be questioned lightly and I might even get rewarded, the other benefit is that I have gotten one core formation realm refinement material, but most importantly I have gotten that old man's spiritual core, and this core has nine leaf patterns."

When elemental realm expert breaks through to the core formation realm they would form this yellow core, in this core resides the individual's spiritual energy. The nine leaves represent that Luo cai was a peak core formation realm expert.

"Okay, I will cultivate the rotten blood art first." Bai Ming decided.

Four hours passed, Bai Ming got out of the tub. This time he had cultivated the rotten blood art in his house, he mainly cultivated the rotten blood art in the cave because he would need a large area to practice the art, but this time it was just a single corpse and he was also confident of not making a sound during the entire process, his pain tolerance had leaped by leaps and bounds now.

"Twenty percent, my raw strength is now comparable to an initial stage core formation realm expert. Hmm, I should probably take a look outside now." Bai Ming dressed up quickly and strode out.

.....

"No, calling me the hero of the Ye village is wrong. How could I have done it by myself, it was all only because my comrades were prepared to give up on their dreams and die, only then did we succeed, I don't deserve these heavy titles, everything belongs to them, not me! even in death they died with a smile on their faces.. I just hope wherever they are, let them just be proud, let them just be happy. Even though I haven't known them for long, I feel like they were truly loving a family." Bai Ming spoke emotionally as looked at the beautiful moon.

Bai Ming had already completed his investigation on Xin de's group and the results were in his favor, hence he pushed the blame for his teammate's death on the Luo clan members.

"I am sure they are proud, I am sure they are happy. They were brave men and kind souls, their sacrifices were not wasted and that's thanks to you, don't forget that. They are not dead, it's just that they live within our hearts now." Ye Qing Han looked at Bai Ming with a kind expression and spoke in a consoling way.

"Live within our hearts.." Bai Ming mumbled these words a few times, before looking at Qing han with a sad smile, but his eyes showed acceptance and resolution "I guess so, thank you Lord clan head. I feel like I have understood something."

"Haha, that's good. I always knew you were a talented child, both your parents and brother li are definitely blessed to have a successor like you." Qing Han patted Bai Ming's shoulder.

"I hope that's true, but I am truly blessed to have had them as my family." Bai Ming's heartfelt words could even melt a heartless stone.

But Ye Qing Han wasn't a stone, he was hundreds of times tougher and stronger than it.

"Good child, still you have to accept these rewards, you truly deserve them." Qing Han encouraged.

"But.." Bai Ming still showed slight hesitation.

"This is an order, tell are you still not going to accept them." Qing Han pretend to be slightly angry.

"I don't dare, then I shall thank the clan head for your generosity." Bai Ming gave him a deep bow not getting up until Ye Qing Han himself had helped him get up.

After exchanging words for a few more minutes, Bai Ming departed with a large bag on his back.

....

Bai Ming sat at the edge of his bed as he stroked his chin lightly, in front of him lay a small mountain of spirit stones. These 6000 spirit stones were the reward he had gotten from the clan head along with the chance to learn the fifth layer of the primeval sword art.

"Absorb"

[𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢: 5000 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢]

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋: 𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

"Yes"

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢...𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜:5000]

"Nice, show status"

____

[𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜]

[𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙱𝚊𝚒 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐]

[𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚃𝚒𝚎𝚛 6 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖 ]

[𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝: 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 +]

[𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗: 4 +]

[𝚂𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎: 5 +]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜: 5000/5000]

____

Next, Bai Ming fully spent his skill points upgrading his attributes. He spent 1500 skill points each on upgrading spirit root and comprehension, next Bai Ming once again absorbed another 500 spirit stones to upgrade the sword path aptitude which needed 2500 skill points.

For a second Bai Ming's entire body shone with a blinding sliver light before it vanished.

Bai Ming calmly inspected his body, he looked slightly surprised.

"My soul strength increased, it is comparable to 1st layer elemental realm. Hehehe, good, very good." Bai Ming laughed lightly, next he began to think of the reason "If my guess is right, it should have something to do with increasing either my comprehension or sword path aptitude or it could be because I upgraded both of them...Status"

____

[𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜]

[𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙱𝚊𝚒 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐]

[𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚃𝚒𝚎𝚛 6 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖 ]

[𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝: 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 ]

[𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗: 5 +]

[𝚂𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎: 6 +]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜: 0/5000]

____

"Now I can begin cultivating, my divine sense is enough to set up a simple 2nd tier qi gathering array, and along with my talent and the help of spirit liquid I can reach the peak of the elemental realm within 3-4 days. Then I'll have to ask the clan for the 3rd layer of the primeval star mantra. As for comprehending the sword art, I will do it once I reach the core formation realm. It will probably only take a week for me to reach the core formation realm, is this perhaps fortune within misfortune."