Volume Two: The Mortal Realm, Chapter 103: The Dragon Slayer

"This girl used a curse on me last night, and every time she does, it consumes her primal life force."

"I have used my internal energy to keep her hanging by a thread. She is stable for now. Go hunting now and bring back plenty of meat. Be quick."

The old beggar squatted beside A-Ru and spoke coldly to Ye Mingke.

"Understood, I will go at once. Thank you, Senior."

Ye Mingke looked at the old beggar’s face, which still bore a trace of indifference, yet a sudden warmth surged in his heart. After sincerely thanking the old beggar, he immediately turned and headed out of the cave to hunt for food.

After he left, the old beggar turned his gaze toward the woman, Liu Xi.

"Xiao Xi, take good care of the little girl. Use your internal energy to nourish her heart pulse."

Liu Xi nodded, her eyes filled with concern as she looked at the old beggar.

However, the old beggar shook his head at her and turned to walk out of the cave as well.

The snow was vast, and all creatures lay dormant; hunting in the snowy mountains was extremely difficult. But with the aid of his spirit eyes, Ye Mingke soon caught his first snow hare.

Just then, Ye Mingke suddenly heard a heaven-shaking roar echoing through the endless snowy mountains. In many places, the accumulated snow on the slopes was shaken loose, causing avalanches.

The surroundings were filled with dust from the collapsing snow. Ye Mingke stood in the valley, looking around in bewilderment, unable to see clearly through the haze.

He could only hear the roar—wretched, terrifying, and continuous, as if a massive, fierce beast was struggling in its final moments before death.

It was enough to strike fear into one's heart.

But Ye Mingke’s mind was occupied with the unconscious A-Ru. He did not probe further; instead, taking advantage of the fact that all the beasts had been frightened away by the terrifying roar, he caught a snow deer and carried the game back to the cave.

Inside the cave, only Liu Xi sat with the unconscious A-Ru; the old beggar was nowhere to be seen.

"Lady Liu, where has the senior gone?" Ye Mingke asked, surprised not to see the old beggar.

"My father has gone to gather medicine," Liu Xi said softly, looking toward the cave entrance where the wretched beast’s roar could still be faintly heard.

"To gather medicine?" Ye Mingke looked at the unconscious A-Ru, roughly guessing the connection between the roar outside and the old beggar. His heart felt warm, yet filled with worry.

"I will go look for him," he said to Liu Xi.

"You cannot keep up with his speed," Liu Xi said flatly.

The roars outside soon faded away. Ye Mingke realized his own insignificance and could only stare blankly at the wind and snow outside the cave, just as Liu Xi was doing.

He turned his head to look at A-Ru’s pale little face and closed eyes.

He remembered the little girl’s tears and fear from the night before, and he blamed himself for his own powerlessness.

When would he finally possess the strength to protect everything he wanted to protect?

The old beggar had left before noon, but it was already dusk when he returned.

His tattered clothes were stained with blood of various colors, his face pale and weary. In his hand, he carried a bundle wrapped in a piece of torn fabric, which was still continuously seeping blood.

He walked into the cave and dropped the bundle onto the ground. As the torn cloth unfurled, it revealed several medicinal herbs stained with blood, some crimson fruits, and a grey, orb-like object.

Ye Mingke did not recognize the herbs, but his spirit eyes perceived that both the herbs and the fruits radiated powerful spiritual energy. The orb-like object, in his perception, shone as brightly as a small sun, to the point of being blinding.

"Xiao Xi, I am tired. You handle the rest. Once it is prepared, give it to the little girl to drink."

The old beggar sat by the fire in the cave and spoke to Liu Xi.

"What are these?"

"Spirit Essence Grass, Red Candle Fruit—they can replenish life essence. And finally, a beast core from the Tongyuan Realm." The old beggar did not answer; it was Liu Xi who spoke as she picked up the items from the bundle.

"The quality of this beast core is much better this time, Xiao Xi. Follow the formula we used before, but add a little less pill powder," the old beggar said while closing his eyes by the fire.

Liu Xi nodded, though her eyes remained filled with worry as she began to process and brew the medicinal herbs.

"A Tongyuan Realm beast core..." Ye Mingke lowered his head, whispering the words. He looked at the old beggar’s tired, pale face and knew that obtaining these things must have involved many brutal battles with fierce beasts.

Yet, this time, he did not thank the old beggar, for sometimes words seem too thin and powerless in the face of certain deeds.

Liu Xi brewed the medicinal herbs into a soup and fed it to A-Ru.

A few hours later, Ye Mingke noticed that A-Ru’s body temperature, which had been steadily dropping, began to rise. Her complexion even turned rosy, beads of sweat appeared, and her breathing became stronger.

"Her life essence did not suffer too much damage this time, so it could still be remedied. Once life essence is damaged beyond a certain line, it is irreversible. Teach your girl well; before she truly begins her cultivation, do not let her recklessly use that power again."

The old beggar, still looking haggard and pale, spoke to Ye Mingke in a deep voice.

"Yes, I will," Ye Mingke looked at A-Ru and nodded solemnly.

It was late in the night when the old beggar suddenly stood up and walked out of the cave. Seeing Ye Mingke staring at him in surprise without rising, he said indifferently, "Why are you still sitting there?"

"What are we doing?" Ye Mingke asked, not immediately realizing.

"Fighting!" The old beggar rolled his eyes at him and turned to walk out into the wind and snow.

Ye Mingke finally understood. He followed the old beggar out of the cave, beginning another night of being beaten.

This time, the old beggar’s strikes were heavier than the night before, but he controlled them perfectly, forcing Ye Mingke to exert all his strength to defend himself while ensuring he did not suffer any major injuries.

Ye Mingke did his best to absorb the mysteries of the old beggar’s fist techniques, and soon, he began to execute punches that fused his own intent and momentum.

He realized this technique shared a similar essence with the "Non-yielding Sword" his uncle had taught him.

The old beggar did not rely solely on physical strikes to instruct Ye Mingke that night.

After Ye Mingke had initially mastered how to integrate his intent and momentum into his fist techniques, he sat on the snow with him and carefully explained the structure of five different fist stances and their respective applications.

He even dismantled and mapped out human anatomy in the snow, explaining to Ye Mingke how to generate power more effectively, as well as the vital points and skeletal joints of the human body.

"The Immortal Path cultivates the heavens and earth; the Buddha Path cultivates cause and effect. But the Martial Path cultivates only the human."

"Immortals seek longevity; Buddhas seek transcendence. But the Martial Path seeks only survival."

"The Martial Path is a path of slaughter, created by the human race during its most humble beginnings to resist the perilous primordial world and the naturally powerful hundred clans."

"It is just that I do not know when the Martial Path became nearly extinct. I used to wonder why it had declined to such a degree."

"It wasn't until you revived the heavy sword, 'Human World,' and I sensed the Martial Path for the first time, that I realized it wasn't just because later generations were inadequate—it was because the laws of the Martial Path no longer existed between heaven and earth."

"Most practitioners of the Martial Path today stop at the Acquired Realm. Even the top experts only reach the ninth floor of the Martial Path, equivalent to the peak of the Sutra-Reaching Realm. The reason Xiao Xi and I were able to break through to the twelfth floor is that we obtained a portion of the Human Emperor's heritage."

"Martial practitioners without the guidance of the Martial Path's laws are like those walking on a muddy, winding path full of forks, unable to see the direction."

"Only in the 'Human World' sword do the laws of the Martial Path remain. That is why you, who can revive it, are so important."

"The human race has been abandoned by the gods. It needs the power of the Human Emperor and the power of the Martial Path to protect its own kind."

The old beggar’s voice was not loud, like a straight line, but Ye Mingke could feel the turbulent waves hidden beneath that seemingly flat tone.

"Why has the human race been abandoned by the gods? Why could the world enjoy the protection of immortals for so many years in the past, yet suffer so many immortal disasters after the founding of the Great Xia?" Ye Mingke asked softly.

"I do not know. Perhaps it is because Great Xia was founded upon the Immortals that it has become this way."

"Legend has it that the Heavenly Dao flows, allowing all living beings to survive together, so practitioners must not interfere in the human world, or they will incur evil karma. Yet, today's immortals run rampant in the human world, and no Heavenly Dao comes to punish them."

Listening to the old beggar, Ye Mingke suddenly felt as if he could hear Li Han’s dying whispers again.

"Unlike us mortals, who are powerless to resist and can only drift with the tide, leaving our fate to heaven... is this heaven perhaps insane?"

Is this heaven insane?

Sitting in the snow, Ye Mingke looked up at the dark firmament. The snow was light tonight, and sparse flakes drifted lazily through the night sky.

He suddenly asked, "If the gods cannot save the human world, can the Human Emperor?"

"If the Immortal Path cannot save the human world, can the Martial Path?"

"Why must the human world always wait to be saved?"

Ye Mingke looked at the old beggar and asked earnestly, his ink-black pupils holding a brilliant, piercing light.

"What are you trying to say?" The old beggar looked back at him, asking sternly.

"There is a question you may have always known but have subconsciously avoided. If immortals separate themselves from mortals because of their own path, long lives, and great power..."

"Then what is the difference between a Martial God who has attained divinity through the Martial Path, or a Human Emperor who created it, and those immortals and gods who have already abandoned humanity?"

"Is the Human Emperor you worship not also one of those gods?"

"Why must the human world always wait for the salvation of gods? When will the mortals of the world possess their own power? When will they be able to survive without relying on those powerful beings?"

"I don't know many grand truths, but I grew up in the wilderness. I know that tigers hunt deer, and deer eat grass. It is the law of the jungle."

"I don't know if it is right, but it has always existed. For the weak to avoid being devoured, the most important thing is not to be weak."

"That is why I said you are important. The human world is full of mortals who cannot cultivate, so you can revive the Martial Path and let the world have its own strength?" The old beggar’s voice trembled slightly, as if suppressing something powerful, yet his words remained tinged with anger and... fear.

"But, the same question remains: what is the difference between the Martial Path and the Immortal Path? What is the difference between the gods of the Martial Path and the gods of the Immortal Path?"

"Will the dragon-slayer one day become the evil dragon? Just because you won't, it doesn't mean others won't."

"I am not of the human world. A dragon-slayer is no longer a human either. We cannot save the human world."

Ye Mingke lowered his head, his voice, calm to the point of indifference, echoing in the snowy night.

He had studied arithmetic; his deductions were never mixed with emotion, but followed the coldest and most eternal laws.