"No, absolutely not!" The village chief shook his head violently inside the wooden hut, as though he had been personally affronted, gazing at Yang Kai with undisguised anguish. "Ah Niu, do you have any idea what you're saying?"
Yang Kai sighed. "I'm only going out for a brief period of training. I'll be back by spring."
The village chief replied, "The bitter winter is already upon us, the mountain passes are sealed by heavy snow. Even if you're already an upper-rank Shaman apprentice—huh? You... you... when did you become a Shaman?"
When Yang Kai had first walked in, the village chief hadn't examined his condition closely. Now that he took a proper look, he was shocked — the Ah Niu standing before him had actually advanced to the rank of Shaman! It wasn't that the village chief could discern a Shaman's rank on his own, but his eye was keen enough to tell that the aura radiating from Yang Kai was nothing a mere Shaman apprentice could possess.
How was this possible!
Only half a month ago Ah Niu had received the Barbaric God's blessing and awakened the power of Shamanry. Breaking through to upper-rank Shaman apprentice in a single night had been startling enough — yet now he was already a full Shaman!
That was a realm the village chief had longed for his entire life and never reached.
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Village Chief, surely you don't think a Shaman like me would be unable to protect himself out in the world?"
The village chief shot back, "Even if you are a Shaman, how many Shamanic arts do you actually know? The techniques you've learned were all passed down by me—"
Before he could finish, the village chief's jaw dropped. He stared dumbfounded at the Shamanic shield that had materialized in front of Yang Kai, along with the ball of fire hovering above his palm.
The village chief's lips moved, but he found he no longer had any grounds to stop Ah Niu from venturing out.
Yang Kai said, "Village Chief, I came here simply to inform you. Even if you don't approve, I'll find a chance to slip away."
The village chief let out a heavy sigh. After a long moment, he said, "Three days. Give me three more days, and I'll teach you a few more things."
"Deal!"
Over the next three days, Yang Kai stayed in the village chief's house, living alongside him.
During those three days, the village chief did not teach Yang Kai any particularly powerful Shamanic arts, nor did he pass on any cultivation techniques. In terms of Cultivation, the village chief had nothing left to offer — by his own admission, he had nothing better to teach Yang Kai.
What he did know was that Ah Niu had always been cut off from the outside world. He had no connections beyond the village, to say nothing of any knowledge of the world beyond.
Strength alone would not guarantee safety on this journey, so the village chief taught Yang Kai about the world itself — its customs and cultures, emergency protocols for every manner of danger one might encounter.
The village chief had once ventured out into the world in his youth…
Once the three days had passed, the village chief truly had nothing left to teach Yang Kai. Even the ancient scripts had all been handed over.
"I'll tell the villagers that you're in secluded Cultivation and must not be disturbed. Set out tomorrow before dawn — and remember to come back early!" The village chief spoke like a parent seeing a child off on a long journey, his face full of concern and worry.
"Understood."
"Get some rest now. Tomorrow everything begins anew. You're about to face an entirely new journey!"
…
The next day, while the sky was still grey with the first hint of dawn, Yang Kai set off. At that hour the villagers were all fast asleep. But as he left the village, some instinct made him glance back — and there, standing quietly by the fence wall, was Ah Hua, who was on night watch. Their eyes met across the distance, and they each gave a small nod. Everything that needed to be said was understood without words.
Yang Kai strode forward and soon vanished from Ah Hua's sight.
Five days later, at the foot of a mountain roughly a thousand li from Cangnan Village, Yang Kai produced a yellowed piece of beast-hide parchment and compared it against his route. He studied the rolling mountain range ahead. "This should be the place."
Luobai Mountain!
This was the destination of Yang Kai's journey.
When the village chief had ventured out in his youth, he had not traveled particularly far. Luobai Mountain had been one of the stops along his path, and the yellowed map had been handed to Yang Kai by the village chief just before his departure.
According to the village chief, a great many barbaric beasts inhabited Luobai Mountain. Some of the more powerful ones could rival a Great Shaman.
The village chief had repeatedly warned Yang Kai to know his own limits — but the entire purpose of this trip was to seek out barbaric beasts to test himself against, so Yang Kai had no intention of heeding the warning.
After a moment's pause, Yang Kai stepped into the depths of Luobai Mountain.
Half a day later, inside a mountain cave, Yang Kai exhaled a plume of warm breath and planted his foot on the carcass of a demon beast beneath him. "Truly weak," he muttered in dissatisfaction.
In his estimation, this demon beast was only at about the level of a third- or fourth-tier creature. Even without drawing on his Shamanic power, his physical body alone was more than enough to kill it with ease.
Still, something was better than nothing.
He extracted the beast core, gave it a cursory cleaning, and swallowed it directly. Then he sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation technique to refine it.
His abdomen rumbled like rolling thunder, emitting strange sounds. In less time than it took an incense stick to burn, Yang Kai had fully refined the beast core.
He silently assessed his condition, and his brow furrowed slightly.